An Alchemist on The Team
by German53
Summary: What would happen to The Team from Young Justice if a sixth person joined them at the beginning? What would happen if this person had the power of Alchemy? Let's find out. Rated M for safety.
1. Prologue

**PROLOGUE: The Power of Alchemy**

Jak Kenway had always had a knack for getting into trouble, but this definitely topped anything he had done before. Jak was a well muscled sixteen year old with black hair and wearing a gray hoodie, blue jeans, and black sneakers.

He had been trying to mind his own business for once, just running out to get some late night take out from this Chinese place he liked. Fate it seemed had another idea for him though, because not long after leaving his apartment he had run across Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Robin as they helped put out a fire at the Cadmus facility before disappearing inside.

After seeing their acts of heroism Jak had felt compelled to follow them in. Getting into the building had been easy enough, since he was no stranger to a bit of breaking and entering, and following them down into the sub levels of Cadmus had also been simple. However once he got down there that is when things started to get really strange. Luckily he avoided the fights that the young team started with the strange monsters that seemed to inhabit the secret laboratory, and continued to sneak down in their wake, but when they made it to **Project Kr** he was unable to avoid both them and the Cadmus staff, so he decided to reveal himself to the young heroes.

"Who are you, and how did you get down here?" Aqualad demanded. "Names Jak, I saw you guys come into Cadmus and decided to follow. I know stupid idea, and you definitely don't have to tell me that twice, but I've made a habit of stupid ideas. Although this one definitely takes the cake." Jak explained as Robin continued to hack a stasis pod containing a young clone of Superman. Once it opened though the clone attacked all of them. Jak did his best to avoid the fighting between the three super heroes and the immensely strong clone, but was not successful.

And now he had a large shard of metal imbedded in his stomach, due to said battle. The clone had been too powerful for the three young heroes and beaten them all senseless. As he weakly coughed up blood and began to lose consciousness, Jak saw a man in the lab coat come in and smirk at the downed heroes. "Prepare pods for all of them down the hall, except this one" he said, pointing at Jak, "He's nobody so we don't need him. Let him die and dispose of the body later."

Jak was suddenly standing in front of a massive set of stone double doors with countless overlapping circles and runes etched into its surface. The door slowly began to open, showing an infinite blackness on the other side, when out of nowhere there was a white featureless person of similar height to Jak standing in front of him. "**Long indeed has it been that anyone has stood before The Gate, and never one from any world but my own. I wonder what brings one from a world so far before my Gate?**" The being asked, seemingly speaking to itself.

All of a sudden Jak's mind was bombarded with images of his life in Washington D.C. From the first time he visited the Hall of Justice to every time he ever saw a super hero or villain, and all leading up to his last few moments of consciousness in the sub levels of the Cadmus Labs.

"**What an interesting world you inhabit boy**_._" The white being said, this time clearly to Jak. "**You have potential and this is why you were brought before The Gate, however before we move forward I must ask you a question**_._" Despite not having any eyes the being seemed to burn its stare straight into Jak's soul, forcing only the truth out of him. "**If I granted you power and knowledge, what would you do with it?**" It asked the young man.

"I… I would… help people." Jak said slowly as the truthful answer was forced through his clenched teeth. The being smiled massively at Jak's answer, seemingly pleased. "**That is good boy. I will allow you to pass through The Gate without a sacrifice since you did not commit a Taboo to end up here. Enjoy the power of alchemy**_._" It said before turning serious. "**However if you do commit a Taboo then you will not like what you find on the other side of this Gate**_._" It warned before disappearing. Suddenly a massive eye opened inside the blackness of the open gate and countless hands of shadow grabbed Jak and pulled him into The Gate.

Jak awoke back on the floor of the Cadmus lab gasping for breath before quickly coughing the last of the congealed blood out of his mouth. He looked and felt at his stomach where he remembered the metal chunk having pierced him and found nothing but smooth skin. He was confused for a moment before his mind was again assaulted with thoughts, but these were not his own. His mind began comprehending the concepts of alchemy, the art of manipulating matter through knowledge of its components and the use of a transmutation circle and the laws of equivalent exchange. He understood the Taboo of human transmutation, as well as the likely consequences should he break that Taboo. He also learned the complete composition of the item now lying in his lap, a silvery grey pocket watch with an alchemic transmutation circle engraved into it, as well as how to use it correctly.

Once all the knowledge finished racing though his brain, Jak was able to get up and begin looking around. He didn't see any of the heroes that he had tried to help, the Superman clone, or the scientist. Then he remembered him saying something about getting pods ready for the heroes down the hall. As he headed down the hall with his new watch in hand Jak suddenly encounters two of the human sized creatures from before.

Without even thinking Jak swung his watch at them and used the circle on it to cause a transmutation, extending the chain and forming the watch into a solid and dense ball that struck the first one directly in the face, knocking it out. He quickly transmuted the watch back to its original form and caught it before placing his hand on the concrete wall next to him and causing another transmutation that made a pillar of stone form out of the wall that blasted the other creature. He then transmuted chains from the metal supports in the walls to bind both of them before quickly moving on.

As Jak approached a nearby door it was suddenly blasted out, mainly due to one of the creatures being hurled through it by the clone he had encountered before. "Holy crap." Jak exclaimed as he, along with the other young heroes, emerged from the room. There was a sudden explosion behind them as they looked at Jak with more than a little shock.

"You… but you were dead in the other room." Aqualad said, sounding more than a little confused as to why Jak was standing in front of them.

Before the conversation could move further along Kid Flash interrupted. "Talk later, escape now." Everyone nodded in agreement and began heading toward the elevators.

Robin turned to Jak. "Stay behind us, we'll keep you safe." He said as they all ran. They encountered several huge monsters, but before anyone could do anything the clone roared and started attacking them as everyone else ran around them. His attacks began shaking the corridor they were all standing in. "Superboy! The goal is escape, not to bury ourselves here." Aqualad yelled at the young clone. "You want escape?" He yelled back as he grabbed one of the huge monsters and threw it into two others and knocked them all over.

Once they got to the elevator doors Superboy ripped them open, grabbed Aqualad and jumped up the shaft. However he didn't keep going up and began to fall. Jak didn't hesitate as he placed his hand on the wall and transmuted several poles out of the wall for the two young heroes to grab onto.

All of the young heroes were amazed at what they just saw. "Whoa! Dude how did u do that?" Kid Flash asked Jak.

"With this and alchemy." Jak explained as he held up his watch.

Robin looked confused as he shot his grappling hook up into the elevator shaft. "How can the precursor to modern chemistry do that?"

Jak shook his head. "Not that, real alchemy. The science and art of changing matter through the knowledge of its composition and the use of a transmutation circle." He said as he again put his hand on the wall and transmuted more handles from the walls for all of them to climb. "There's no time to really explain, like Kid Flash said 'talk later, escape now'."

Everyone nodded and continued climbing until they heard a noise coming from above. "Guys, this level has to be our exit." Robin said as Superboy blasted open the elevator doors. Everyone quickly made it out before the express elevator passed where they had been climbing.

They quickly began running down the hall when Superboy told them to make a left turn followed quickly by a right, that lead straight to a dead end. "Oh great directions Supy. Are you trying to get us re-podded?" Kid Flash asked sarcastically.

"No I… I don't understand." Superboy admitted hanging his head.

"Are you kidding? Don't apologize, this is perfect." Robin said with a devious smirk on his face. Needless to say, Jak and everyone else was definitely confused until the Boy Wonder pulled the panel off of the air duct and they all began crawling through.

"At this rate we'll never get out." Kid Flash complained. "Shh. Listen." Superboy warned as his super hearing picked up noises in the vent. They quickly made their way out of the vent in a different area of the floor where Robin started typing on his holographic wrist computer. "I hacked the motion sensors." He explained with a smirk. "Nice computer skills. Now to close off our exit." Jak said as he walked over to the wall.

"What do you mean?" Asked Aqualad. Jak just smirked and placed his hand on the wall. The watch in his hand let off a blue light before the wall paneling formed around the open vent. When he was done no one could tell there was ever a vent opening. "Impressive." Aqualad commented.

"We need to get out of here, but there's still plenty of them between us and out." Robin said as he deactivated his computer.

"Yeah, but now I've got room to move." Kid Flash said as he pulled down his goggles and went into the large stairwell and began speeding up the stairs. When he encountered more creatures higher up he simply sped up even more and ran them over.

"More behind us." Robin warned as the rest of the group followed in kid Flash's wake. Superboy quickly turned around and stomped on the top step of their level, breaking the staircase and knocking the pursuing monsters down several levels.

Kid flash continued to speed ahead of the rest of the group, but was cut off by a closed blast door. Superboy and Aqualad attempted to use their brute strength to open the door while Robin attempted to hack the door, but all were unsuccessful. Jak was about to attempt his alchemy on the door when, all of a sudden, Robin kicked the nearby door open. "This way." He yelled as he followed his own advice and ran through the door. The rest of the group followed him and ran into a whole host of the things of all shapes and sizes, as well as Guardian.

All of the small gargoyle like creature's horns began to glow and all of the young men fell over. As abruptly as it started the psychic attack ended and all of them began to get back up. The small one on Guardian's shoulder jumped away and he began feeling at his head. "What happened? It's like waking from a dream." He commented sounding confused.

Aqualad looked over at the armored hero. "Guardian?" "Go. I'll handle Desmond." The armored hero said.

"I think not." Came Desmond's voice from behind all of the creatures. "Project Blockbuster will give me the power to restore order to Cadmus." He said as he drank a vial of glowing blue liquid. He immediately began growing and deforming, ripping out of his clothes and even his own skin. This revealed a new form underneath with dark gray skin and red lines running all over, as well as black eyes with red pupils.

"Get back." Guardian yelled as he charged Desmond, who just smiled and swatted him aside. Superboy rushed forward with his own super strength and both he and Desmond started trading powerful blows. Superboy then tried a jumping punch but was intercepted by Desmond who jumped and hit Superboy in mid air hard enough to blow both of them through the ceiling and into the room above.

"Well that's one way to bust through the ceiling." Robin commented as he shot his grappling hook through the hole in the ceiling and grabbed Kid flash. "You think lab coat planned that?" Kid Flash asked as both he and Robin were pulled through the hole. "I doubt he is planning anything anymore." Aqualad said as he grabbed Jak and jumped through the hole.

They saw Superboy and Desmond fighting hard. Desmond grabbed him by the feet and threw him at the rest of the group, all of who dodged except Aqualad who caught Superboy's flying form. The five of them regrouped and the young heroes turned to Jak. "Stay out of sight, we'll draw his attention so you can escape." Aqualad said to the young man Desmond roared and began to charge them. '_Screw hiding, this is as much my fight as theirs_.' Jak thought as he prepared himself for the battle ahead.

They all charged as well and Kid Flash immediately took the lead with his super speed. As the two of them converged Kid Flash dodged the massive punch by sliding underneath Desmond. As soon as he looked back up from his missed punch He was struck by a double punch from both Superboy and Aqualad, knocking him backwards and onto his back as Kid Flash had kneeled down behind his legs. "Learned that one in kindergarten." He joked as metal chains came from the ground and began to ensnare Desmond thanks to Jak's Alchemy. Robin then came jumping over Kid Flash and threw several of his batarangs at the hulking former scientist.

Desmond broke the chains with little seeming effort and swatted the batarangs out of the air. As he flipped over onto his knees and looked up he saw Superboy standing over him about to attack, but he quickly tackled the young clone into one of the nearby pillars. Superboy tried to fight back but Desmond punched him hard enough to almost break the pillar before a water whip from Aqualad's weapon wrapped around his arm. When Desmond turned around he caught a knee in the face from Aqualad who then jumped and attempted a strike with a hard water mace. Desmond caught it though and flung Aqualad across the room, following that by quickly throwing Superboy into another pillar.

Jak decided that it was now his turn at the giant and swung his watch at the beasts face, having transmuted the watch into a dense metal ball again. Desmond caught the ball and was about to pull Jak towards him when blue energy ran along the chain and spikes suddenly shot out of the ball, piercing his skin and causing him to roar in pain. Jak immediately pulled his watch back and placed his hand on the ground and transmuted a stone post up out of the ground directly into Desmond's face, knocking him backwards.

"I thought we told you to hide and escape?" Robin asked the young alchemist as he prepared for Desmond's next attack. "Yeah well I decided to stay. I came this far with you guys, and I'm seeing this through to the end." Jak said resolutely as he started swinging his watch in a slow circle.

Desmond had gotten up by this time and attempted to stomp on Aqualad's prone form but was interrupted by Kid Flash, who tried to attack him, but was caught and then thrown into Aqualad. This knocked them both into a pillar, and Desmond followed and smashed both Aqualad and himself directly through one of the support pillars and into the wall behind it.

Robin saw dust falling from the ceiling and felt the building shake before a proverbial light bulb went off in his head. "Of course." He said as he pulled up his holographic computer, which displayed the floor as well as the support pillars in the building. "KF get over here." He yelled at Kid Flash, who quickly got up and sped over to both Jak and the boy wonder.

Meanwhile Desmond was still trying to pound away on Aqualad, who had used one of his Water Bearers to make a shield. He finally broke through the water shield, but was interrupted from striking the young Atlantean by Superboy who struck him hard in the kidney and then jumped on his back while attempting a chokehold. This did not last long as Desmond simply tossed Aqualad aside and grabbed Superboy and threw him through the pillar.

Robin, Jak and Kid Flash were watching this as Robin's wrist computer took note of the structural damage happening. "Got it?" He asked. "Got it." Both Kid Flash and Jak replied. "Go." The Boy wonder ordered.

Kid Flash took off toward Desmond, who had Superboy in his grip, and jumped at him, ripping off the last bit of human flesh hanging off of his face. The young hero looked at the skin in his hand and pointed at it. "Got your nose." He joked at the enraged juggernaut, who roared in anger and began chasing the young speedster.

"Superboy, Aqualad." Robin yelled as he pulled up his holographic display of the pillars. "This one and that one." He said; pointing at the pillars he needed taken out. The two young heroes nodded and began breaking the pillars in question while Kid Flash continued distracting the behemoth, while causing him to also destroy a few pillars with his attacks.

While all of this was going on, Jak was busy drawing a large transmutation circle on the ground where Robin was originally just going to draw an X as a way to show where Desmond needed to be corralled to. Jak however had a much different idea in mind as he worked furiously on the circle. As soon as it was done, the heroes began pushing Desmond towards that area. Once he was within the circle, Jak placed his hands on it and it began to glow blue as the transmutation went into effect. The first thing that happened was that Desmond sank into the ground, followed quickly by many metal chains flying out of the ground to tie up the huge monster and quickly embedding themselves back into the ground all around him.

"Now." Jak yelled as all the heroes got out of dodge and Robin's explosive batarangs took out the last few pillars and caused a large portion of the ceiling, as well as the rest of the building, to collapse directly onto the trapped Desmond. Unfortunately the young heroes were not fast enough to fully escape and part of the building collapsed onto them as well. Superboy was able to keep them safe with his strength and pushed a large chunk of building off of the area they were in, freeing all of them.

All of them were in shambles, their outfits torn apart and they were all bleeding from minor wounds and breathing hard. "We… did it." Aqualad said. "Was there ever… any doubt?" Robin asked as he and Kid Flash gave each other a high five, an act they immediately regretted due to their injuries. "That… sucked. Let's not do it again… ever." Jak commented, causing a round of nods from everyone else.

"See, the moon." Kid Flash said to Superboy as he pointed at the huge full moon that was out. Looking at the moon they suddenly saw a silhouette flying towards them, which turned out to be Superman. "Uh, and Superman. Do we keep our promises or what?" Kid Flash asked rhetorically as Superboy was not paying attention to anything other than his progenitor slowly flying towards them, along with a great many other members of the Justice League. Before long all five of them were surrounded by more high profile heroes than any of them had ever seen in one place at the same time.

Superboy suddenly walked forward and lifted up the front portion of his suit with the S on it, causing a stir among the gathered heroes. "Is that what I think it is?" Batman asked the Man of Steel. "I'm Superman's clone." Superboy said defiantly. Batman merely looked at him and the rest of the group before narrowing his eyes. "Start talking."

Some time later, after the full debriefing, several league members took Desmond away while the young heroes were standing around trying to figure out what would happen to them. Superboy looked over to where Superman, Wonder Woman and The Martian Manhunter were having a discussion. Superman looked over at his young clone and started walking towards him. "We'll uh… We'll figure something out for you. The League will I mean. For now… I… better make sure they get that Blockbuster creature squared away." He said as he flew off into the night.

"Cadmus will be investigated, all fifty-two levels." Batman said as he, Flash, and Aquaman walked toward the group of young heroes. "But lets make one thing clear." "You should've called." Flash interrupted. "End results aside we are not happy. You hacked Justice League systems, disobeyed direct orders and endangered lives, especially that of the young man standing with you. You will not be doing this again." Batman said with a tone of complete finality.

"I am sorry, but we will." Aqualad said. "Aqualad, stand down." The king of Atlantis reprimanded his young protégé. "Apologies my king, but no." He said with as much defiance as the calm young man ever showed. "We did good work here tonight, the work you trained us to do. Even Jak, who has neither the training nor the powers we possess, was invaluable to our success. Together and on our own we forged something powerful and important." He explained.

"If this is about your treatment at the Hall, the three of you." Flash began before his sidekick interrupted him. "The five of us." Kid flash said simply. "Batman, we're ready to use what you taught us. Or why teach us at all?" Robin asked. "Why let them tell us what to do?" Superboy asked belligerently. "It's simple. Get onboard or get out of the way." Jak walked up with the rest of them smirking. "I'm with all of them one hundred percent. Although you were only half right about me Aqualad, I don't have your training, but I do have power." He said as he held up his watch and all of them stared down the Justice League.

Several days later they were standing in a hollowed out mountain in Rhode Island in street clothes, being briefed by Batman. "This cave was the original secret sanctuary of the Justice League. We're calling it into service again. Since you five are determined to stay together and fight the good fight, you'll do it on League terms. Red Tornado has volunteered to live here and be your supervisor and Black Canary is in charge of training. I will deploy you on missions." The Dark Knight explained to the team.

"Real missions?" Robin asked excitedly. "Yes but covert." Batman answered. "The League will still handle the obvious stuff. There's a reason we have these big targets on our chests." Flash explained. "But Cadmus proves the bad guys are getting smarter. Batman needs a team that can operate on the sly." Aquaman said. "The six of you will be that team." Batman said.

"Six of us?" Jak asked. Batman pointed behind them with his chin and they all turned to see a young woman with green skin and red hair wearing white shirt with a red X on it, as well as a skirt, cape and gloves all the same shade of blue. "This is The Martian Manhunter's niece, Miss Martian." Batman explained. She smiled shyly at all of them and waived. "Hi."

"Liking this gig more every minute." Kid Flash said as he elbowed Robin in the ribs. "Welcome aboard. I'm Kid Flash, that's Robin and Aqualad, it's cool if you forget their names." Kid Flash stopped for a second and looked at Jak. "Come to think of it, you don't even have a codename yet Jak. What should we call you?" He asked their new friend. Jak smirked. "Simple, just call me Alchemist."

Miss Martian smiled and clasped her hands. "I'm honored to be included." She said as they all came forward to meet their new teammate. Superboy hung back from the rest of the team. Robin looked back at the young clone. "Hey Superboy, come meet Miss M." The young hero came forward with the rest of them. Miss Martian's shirt suddenly changed from white to black and her cape went away. "I like your t-shirt." She said to Superboy, getting a small smile out of him. Aqualad smiled at his new teammates. "Today is the day."

**END PROLOGUE**

**Authors Note: Hey there all my loyal followers. Sorry I haven't posted anything on any of my stories for a while, but I have not felt any kind of inspiration until recently. This idea came to me very suddenly and I decided to run with it because I haven't had this kind of inspiration in WAY too long. Hope everyone likes this particular crossover cause it struck me as an awesome concept.**


	2. Chapter 1

**CHAPTER ONE: WHAT MAKES AN ALCHEMIST?**

{_Location: Mount Justice_}

Jak was currently in his room at the new Team headquarters inside Mount Justice. In his opinion, it was by far the most impressive structure he had ever been inside in his life. Jak had never had much in his life, growing up as an orphan, but things were definitely looking up for him now.

He had moved his few belongings into what The Team had taken to calling The Cave along with Superboy and Miss Martian a few days ago. The other two young heroes really had nowhere else to go, but Jak decided that living in The Cave was preferable to his crummy apartment back in D.C.

Robin, Kid Flash, and Aqualad were currently out trying to recruit another member, namely Green Arrow's sidekick Speedy. The young archer had not been with the rest of them when they broke into Cadmus, but Jak was certainly willing to welcome him to the Team as he had the most experience behind Robin.

Jak decided to use the downtime to work on writing out all the knowledge that had been provided to him when he was sent through the Gate by Truth, and there was a lot to remember and write down.

_**Steps of performing a Transmutation**__:_

_1\. __Comprehension__: Understanding the inherent structure of the material you are working with. _

_2\. __Deconstruction__: Using the energy of the planet to break down the physical structure of the identified material into a more malleable shape._

_3\. __Reconstruction__: Continuing the energy flow to reshape material into a new shape._

_**Laws of Alchemy**__:_

_The first and most important law of alchemy is that of __**Equivalent Exchange**__. To create, something of equal value must be lost or destroyed._

_**No Human Transmutation**__: This is both a law and a Taboo of alchemy. People cannot be brought back from the dead, nor can they be artificially created through Alchemy. For what can equal the value of a living soul?_

Jack stopped writing on the principals of alchemy and pulled out a small notebook where he had been working on some of his alchemical experiments. Seeing Aqualad use his water bearers to make hard water constructs and control water had given him an idea for what he was calling his liquid alchemy. It involved using his alchemy to freeze, boil, and otherwise control water or anything containing water that he touched. Even potentially pulling moisture out of the air to use, as needed.

The process for creating this new form of alchemy was rough and Jak was having more than a few setbacks. He was looking over his notes on the subject when an idea struck him. The young alchemist pulled out two sheets of paper and began drawing the original circle he had been using in his failed attempts. On the second piece he began drawing a similar circle with a few minor adjustments to the form and the runes within the circle. Holding the two up for comparison he decided to try out the new design.

He got up and put on one of his many hoodies and began heading for the hangar. As he hurried out of the room he suddenly ran directly into Superboy, bouncing off of the massively strong teen and falling over. "Ow." Jak said as he looked up. "Sorry about that Superboy, I was in a hurry and didn't see you. Has anyone ever told you that walking into you is like hitting a brick wall?"

Superboy just grunted and helped the young alchemist to his feet before starting to walk away. "Hey, do you want to come with me? I have a new design for one of my transmutation circles and I want to try it out." Jak explained.

"Why not? If nothing else it will be funny to watch you almost blow yourself up again." The young kryptonian clone said with a smirk.

Jak scowled momentarily but then shrugged. Superboy hadn't been wrong about his assessment of Jak's alchemy, aside from when he used his watch, but this time Jak could feel that his circle was perfect and would form his alchemy as he wanted.

The two went to the hangar and Jak pulled out his paper with the new transmutation circle on it. He placed the circle on the ground next to the tide pool and it began to glow. Immediately ice began to form on the surface of the water in front of Jak and then began to expand outward. He smirked and then the water melted just as quickly as it had frozen, before just as suddenly evaporating quickly into steam and re-condensing back into water.

Jak jumped up from his kneeling position and pumped his fist in the air. "Hell yeah!" He yelled, very satisfied with the results of his test.

"Was that supposed to be it?" Superboy asked, not really understanding the significance of this test. "All you did was make a little ice and steam. What's the big deal?"

"Now that I've perfected this circle, I can do way more than just make ice and steam. I can control and change any water around me however I want. Do I want the water to flow out and cover my enemy? I can do that. Do I want to make a spear out of ice to pierce some robot or monster through the chest? Done. Do I need to make a big steam cloud to cover our escape? Also covered." Jak explained as he picked up his new circle design.

"This alchemy of yours seems very versatile." Miss Martian commented as she came into the hangar from the living area.

"Hey there M'gann. From what I can gather about the information that The Gate gave me, it was originally created to change base metals into gold, but I'm guessing that whatever world or dimension had the knowledge weaponized it instead. I'm trying to come up with the circles themselves to perform my alchemy, but I'm also trying to figure out a way to make them easily usable in a fight. I hadn't really thought too much on that particular angle, but now that I have a second working transmutation circle I can start figuring it out." Jak explained to the Martian female.

"Well why don't you just carve it into something that you can carry on your person on missions, like a metal plate or something?" M'gann asked.

Jak was stunned, without even trying Miss Martian had given him the perfect idea for making his circles useable in combat. "M'gann you are a total genius." Jak exclaimed as he gave her a big hug and ran out of the room. "Umm… what did I say?" She asked, very confused by Jak's behavior.

Jak quickly ran in the direction of the mission room looking for Red Tornado, their designated supervisor. Unfortunately the android was not to be found. "_Recognized Robin; B-01, Kid Flash; B-03, Aqualad; B-02_." The computer said as one of the rooms Zeta Beam Tubes activated and the three young heroes appeared.

"Hey guys. How did the recruitment drive go?" Jak asked his teammates. "Not well." Aqualad replied as they walked up to the young alchemist. "Yeah, Speedy was a total jerk about joining the Team." Kid Flash elaborated as he pulled off his mask.

"He said that the Team was just a way for the League to keep us busy and in our place." Robin groused. "I don't buy that." Jak said drawing looks from the other three. "If the League really wanted us out of the way they could've just done it. I mean could any of us really stand up to any League members that wanted to stop us? Honestly?" He asked.

Robin, Aqualad, and Kid Flash all thought about it before shaking their heads. "You are right my friend. We could not stop even the weakest members of the League should they truly wish to put a stop to us." Kaldur finally said.

Jak began trying to type on the holographic computer looking for the materials that he would need, however the machine was less than cooperative. "Come on you holographic hunk of crap, tell me what I wanna know." Jak yelled as he hit the display and it turned red and gave an angry sounding beep.

"Dude!" Wally yelled. "What's wrong?" Robin asked the group's resident alchemist. "I need some raw materials and this stupid thing isn't cooperating." Jak groused as he kept trying to make the computer give him the answers he wanted, and failing miserably.

Robin intervened before Jak broke something. "Here let me." He said as he began typing on the holo-computer. "What do you need?" The boy wonder asked. "I'm hoping that we have some titanium, tungsten, steel, leather and carbon here in the Cave." Jak explained.

Robin began quickly typing on the holo-keyboard. "Yeah we have all of those things, but what do you need all that for?" He asked, confused by the request. "I'll show you after we collect the supplies." Jak replied cryptically as the two began walking towards the Cave's storage areas.

Kaldur and Wally both looked at each other before following their teammates, both heroes curious about Jak's requested items. The four of them made their way down to the Cave's storage area and began searching for the items. It only took them a few minutes to find everything that Jak wanted. "So what now?" Wally asked impatiently.

"Now you guys get to see me do some alchemy." Jak responded as he piled all of the materials together on the floor. He then proceeded to draw a transmutation circle around everything. It looked like the one on his watch, except more intricate. Once he was done he placed his hands on the edge of the circle, which began to glow blue and energy began emanating from all the items. 

The three young heroes watched in fascination as the materials broke down into energy and reformed into an arm length gauntlet. It was dark grey with an overlapping scaly pattern to it. The fingers of the gauntlet came to claw like points and there was a blank circular plate in the middle of the forearm and one on the back of the hand. Once the transmutation was done Jak happily walked over to his new gauntlet and picked it up. "So what do you guys think?" He asked his teammates.

"That was very cool. I am definitely whelmed." Robin said as he looked over Jak's new piece of gear. "Well? What are you waiting for? Try it on." Wally insisted. The gauntlet slipped over his arm perfectly.

"Most impressive. Your alchemy is truly an amazing sight to behold." Kaldur commented. "Thanks Kaldur, now I just need to get this." Jak said as he pulled out the paper with his liquid alchemy circle on it. "Onto here." He finished as he pointed to the circular plate on his arm.

"What's that?" Wally asked, looking at the circle. "It's a new transmutation circle I just finished earlier. It allows me to control and manipulate water, as well as heating or freezing it as I need to. I'm calling it my Liquid Alchemy." Jak explained. "It's the reason I needed these specific materials. All these metals are very good thermal conductors and they make it easier to use the alchemy effectively."

Robin nodded in understanding. "Why don't we have the armor fabricators in The Cave do it? All we have to do is scan the image and they can laser it directly onto the metal perfectly." He suggested.

"And while we're at it, we really should have the fabricators make Jak a suit to wear on missions. We can't just have him doing the hero gig in street clothes." Wally suggested.

"That is a sound idea Wally. Jak will need something to help conceal his identity, as well as provide him with protection against the hazards of this life." Kaldur said.

All of the teens nodded at this suggestion and headed towards the equipment storage area where the Cave's fabricating machines were located. Jak followed Robin to the laser inscriber and put his new gauntlet into the machine. Once it started inscribing his transmutation circle the two young heroes walked over to the armor fabricator. "This thing is state of the art. We have one just like it in the Batcave and use it to make all of our armors." He explained as he started typing on the computer.

"I think that for your armor we should use this new lightweight Carbon Fiber/Kevlar hybrid mesh. Batman got the plans for it from some people he knows. It will give you great protection against blades of all kinds, as well as some ballistic protection, and we can also install some heavier Kevlar plates to help cover your vital areas." The boy wonder explained. "Now we just need to program in a style and colors and the machine will do the rest."

The design that they came up with was a blue armored undershirt with a hood made from the Carbon Fiber/Kevlar mesh, as well as a black jacket. They decided to make the jacket of a much thicker Kevlar/Carbon Fiber weave with Kevlar plates to cover his vital areas. They also gave him some blue and black camouflage pants with lots of pockets made of the same Kevlar/Carbon fiber weave as his armored shirt, as well as a pair of black armored combat boots.

"I like the armor man." Kid Flash commented as the computer finished rendering his armor. "But I think that you need a symbol as well." He said as he placed a hand on his own lightning bolt symbol.

Jak thought about that for a moment before he snapped his fingers. "I have just the thing." He said as he grabbed another piece of paper and began drawing. A few minutes later he showed them what he had been working on. The picture was of a winged serpent eating it's own tail encircling a stylized hexagram. "This is an Ouroboros. It's an ancient symbol of alchemy and I think it would look completely awesome on the back of the jacket." He explained.

The rest of the Team nodded and got the last few finishing touches put on Jak's suit design. They placed Jak's Ouroboros symbol across the back of the jacket and a much smaller version on the front left side of it. The one point of contention they had was when Robin tried to convince Jak to wear a domino mask similar to the ones both he and Speedy wore.

"No way man. That mask looks stupid and it doesn't even help hide my face. Do you think that some bad guy that has seen my face won't recognize me just because they can't see my cheekbones?" Jak argued with the Boy Wonder.

"It works for me, plus you need something to protect your identity." Robin tried to reason with his friend.

"My identity doesn't need protecting, because nobody even knows who I am. Outside of the Team I'm a literal nobody. I mean seriously, look me up in the Cave's computer. I'd be surprised if you come up with much of anything on me. I don't even have a Facebook page." Jak said.

Robin decided to take the alchemist up on his offer and typed in his information in the Cave's super computer. What came up was a definite disappointment to the young detective in training, as much like Jak predicted there was very little information on him anywhere.

"Wow dude, you totally called it. There's almost literally no info on you online." Wally commented.

"And I intend to keep it that way. So I really don't need to wear a stupid mask." Jak smirked. "Besides, Kaldur and Superboy don't masks, and neither do a bunch of other heroes."

Robin finally nodded in agreement before starting the armor fabricators. As soon as they were started the laser inscriber alerted them that its task had been completed. Jak went to inspect the circle on his gauntlet. "It's perfect. Hey Kaldur, can I get some water?" Jak asked as he slipped his gauntlet onto his arm.

Kid Flash held up his arms. "What say we do this outside? There's an ocean out there with plenty of water." He suggested.

"Great idea Wally, but you guys should change into street clothes. It'll help us blend in better. We should ask Superboy and Miss M to come and I can show them what I can really do with this." Jak said.

The three young heroes all agreed and quickly went to change out of their hero costumes. They grabbed the two other members of the Team and they all started to head outside to check out Jak's liquid alchemy first hand. As they came through the caves main room they saw a computer screen that showed Red Tornado inbound on the Cave. "Check it out." Robin said. "Yes, he's arriving now." Kaldur confirmed as he looked at the screen.

"Well what are we waiting for?" Wally asked as he and Robin headed for the main entrance. Jak put his gauntlet into his backpack as everyone else followed them to where Red Tornado landed in front of the Cave's main entrance using his wind powers. "Greetings." He said in his monotone voice. "Is there a reason you intercept me outside the Cave?" He asked.

"We saw you arriving on the computer as we were going to see some of Jak's new alchemy and hoped you might have a mission for us." Kaldur explained respectfully.

"Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility." Came the red androids response. "But it's been over a week and nothing." Robin protested before Red Tornado held up a hand. "You will be tested soon enough. For the time being simply enjoy each others company."

"This team is not a social club." Aqualad pointed out. "No." Tornado admitted. "But I am told that social interaction is an important team building exercise. Perhaps you can keep busy by familiarizing yourselves with the Cave." He said as he walked past the teens and into the Cave.

Wally glanced at Robin and nudged him. "Keep busy." He said, echoing the same words that Speedy had said to them earlier. "Does he think we're falling for this?" Robin asked, not really expecting an answer.

"Oh, I'll find out." M'gann offered as she looked at Red Tornado and concentrated. Nothing happened as Tornado walked through a scanning field "_Recognized Red Tornado 16_." Came the voice of the Cave's computer. M'gann let out a frustrated sigh before shaking her head. "I'm sorry guys, I forgot that he's a machine. Inorganic, I cannot read his mind." She apologized.

Wally just smiled at her. "Nice try though. So you know what I'm thinking right now?" He asked while trying to be smooth. Robin just scoffed. "We all know what you're thinking right now." He said as he elbowed Wally in the back, getting a pained response from the young speedster. "Well now we have a choice." Jak said, stopping a fight before it could start. "Either we take Tornado's advice and we show you three the Cave, or we keep doing what we were planning and I show you guys my new alchemy." He suggested. "I suppose we tour the clubhouse." Aqualad said, looking somewhat dejected at not having a mission.

M'gann smiled at them. "Well Superboy, Jak and I all live here. We could play tour guide." Superboy shook his head. "Don't look at me." He protested. "We won't." Wally said, immediately giving all of his attention back to M'gann. "A private tour sounds much more fun." He said suggestively. Robin was not happy with that thought. "She never said private." He protested.

Aqualad was, as usual, the voice of reason. "Team building. We'll all go." He suggested. Everyone nodded and they all went into the Cave. "So this would be our front door." M'gann said as she pointed to the caves front entrance. They walked all the way through and out the back overlooking the ocean. "And this would be the back. The Cave is actually the entire mountain." She explained.

They continued walking through the Cave until they got to the large tide pool. "It was hollowed out and reinforced by Superman and Green Lantern in the early days of the League." Wally explained, showing his own Knowledge of Justice League history.

"Then why abandon it for the Hall of Justice?" Superboy asked. "The Cave's secret location was… compromised." Aqualad explained. "So they traded it in for a tourist trap? Yeah that makes sense." Superboy said dismissively.

"If villains know of the Cave, we must be on constant alert." M'gann said, clearly worried. Robin calmly took her hand. "The bad guys know we know they know about the place. So they'd never think to look here." He said, confusing the Martian girl more. Wally reached up and took her hand away from Robin. "What he means is, we're hiding in plain sight." "M'gann scratched her head. "Ah. That's much clearer."

Superboy suddenly sniffed the air. "I smell smoke." He said. M'gann immediately gasped. "My cookies!" She exclaimed and flew off down the hall as quick as she could. Getting to the kitchen she used her telekinetic powers to open the oven and pull out a tray of badly burnt cookies. "Awe. I was trying out Grammy Jones's recipe from episode seventeen of… uh never mind." She said.

Robin just smiled at her. "I bet they would've tasted great. He doesn't seem to mind." He said pointing at Wally, who was crunching several of the burned cookies. Wally looked around with a slightly embarrassed look on his face. "Um, I have a serious metabolism." "I'll make more?" She said questioningly. "It was sweet of you to make any." Kaldur said.

"Thanks Aqualad." She said with an appreciative smile. "We're off duty. Call me Kaldur'ahm. Actually my friends call me Kaldur." "I'm Wally. See, I already trust you with my secret ID. Unlike mister dark glasses over here." He said, gesturing to Robin. "Batman's forbidden the Boy Wonder from telling anyone his real name." Miss Martian smiled. "Well my name's no secret. It's M'gann M'orrz, though you can call me Megan. It's an earth name, and I'm on earth now." Superboy frowned and started walking away. He suddenly turned around with a look of rage on his face. "Get out of my head!" He screamed at M'gann. She looked confused and suddenly everyone in the room heard her voice inside their heads. '_What's wrong? I don't understand. On Mars everyone communicates telepathically_.'

"M'gann stop." Jak said, gently but firmly. "I know you didn't mean any harm, but things are different here. We don't have telepathy, so you're powers are an extreme invasion of privacy." He explained. "Besides, Cadmus's creepy little psychic G-gnomes left a bad taste in his brain." Wally said. M'gann looked mortified. "I…I didn't mean to." "Just stay out." Superboy said angrily and stomped away. She watched him go before suddenly slapping her forehead. "Hello Megan. I know what we can do." She said before quickly flying off. Robin, Kaldur, Jak and Wally all shrugged at each other before following the excitable Martian.

When they finally caught up to her she had apparently convinced Superboy to join her, as he was standing with her by the elevator. They all took it down to the hangar and when it opened M'gann gestured grandly in front of her. "It's my Martian Bioship." She proclaimed proudly. Hovering in front of them was an oblong shape made of some strange red and black material.

None of the young heroes really knew what to say, but Wally didn't let that stop him. "Cute. Not aerodynamic but definitely cute." M'gann just smiled. "It's at rest silly." She explained. "I'll wake it." She waved her hand in front of her ship and it suddenly shifted into a much larger and sleeker form of a real ship, before spinning around and opening a hatch on the back. She began walking toward the ramp before turning back toward the rest of them. "Well, are you coming?" She asked.

Jak merely shook himself before smiling largely and swiftly catching up with M'gann. "This thing is awesome M'gann." He said as everyone else also started walking toward the ship as well. As they all got into the cockpit everything shifted into seats and a console to control the ship. Jak, Wally and Robin all looked at each other with big smiles on their faces. "Strap in for launch." M'gann instructed them. Everyone sat down and the seats automatically caused harnesses to appear and hold them in place. "Very cool." Jak said.

"Red Tornado, please open the bay doors." She said over the ships intercom. The large doors opened up to the back of the mountain overlooking the ocean and the Bioship quickly took off. M'gann took the ship into a fast, steep climb and a double barrel roll before leveling out.

"Incredible." Robin exclaimed. "She sure is." Wally said while looking at M'gann with a dreamy look in his eyes. Realizing that he just said that out loud, he quickly backpedaled. "I uh… I mean the ship. Which like all ships is a she." He finished lamely, getting a big grin from Robin. "Fast on his feet, but not so much with his mouth." He commented, getting a smile from M'gann and an indignant "dude" from Wally.

At the front of the ship Jak, Kaldur and Superboy were sitting together. The young Kryptonian clone had a troubled look on his face. Kaldur turned to him and smiled gently. "I may not have psychic powers, but I can guess at what your thinking. You over reacted and you don't know how to apologize. Just say you're sorry." He suggested.

"Kaldur's right man. She won't hold it against you." Jak assured his new friend. Superboy glanced at both of them before looking away.

In the back of the ship Robin and M'gann looked up at the young clone. "He'll come around." He whispered to her. "He doesn't seem to like me much." She whispered back. "Uh… you guys do remember that he has super hearing right?" Wally asked them, not bothering to lower his voice.

"Hey, how about showing us some Martian shape shifting." Robin suggested, trying to steer the conversation in a more pleasant direction. M'gann stood up with a smile before quickly shifting into a fairly good female approximation of Robin in his super hero outfit, followed by changing into a female version of Kid Flash.

"Is it wrong that I think I'm hot?" Wally asked with a dreamy look in his eyes. "Very impressive." Robin complemented as M'gann changed back to normal. "But you're not exactly gonna fool anyone with those."

She sat back down and placed her hands on the controls. "Mimicking boys is a lot harder." She admitted. Jak gave her a curious look. "And your clothes?" "They're organic, like the ship. They respond to my mental commands." She explained. Superboy grunted. "As long as they're the only ones." He said in a surly voice.

"Can you do that ghosting through walls thing that Manhunter does?" Wally asked, wanting to learn more about the girl he was crushing on. "Density shifting? No, it's a very advanced skill." "Flash can vibrate his molecules right through a wall." Robin said while suppressing a chuckle. "When he tries it, bloody nose." He said, getting another indignant response from Wally. "Here's something I can do." She said as she briefly concentrated. The ship suddenly became invisible. "Camouflage mode."

"_Red Tornado to Miss Martian._" Came their android supervisor's voice over the ship's comms. "_An emergency alert has been triggered at the Happy Harbor Power Plant. I suggest you investigate, covertly. I'm sending coordinates._" "Received. Adjusting course." She said as the Bioship started flying in the direction of the power plant.

Robin scoffed softly. "Tornado is keeping us busy again." "Maybe, but it _was_ just a fire that led you to Superboy and helped create this team, maybe this will be something interesting." Jak pointed out, mollifying the Boy Wonder somewhat. "We should find out what caused the disturbance." M'gann said. Superboy looked out the side window before his eyes widened. "I think I know the cause." He said, causing everyone to look where he was, and seeing a massive tornado heading directly toward them.

Miss Martian concentrated and the Bioship started trying to fly away from the funnel cloud, but was unable to escape and got sucked in. All of the occupants began feeling the high G-forces from the inside of the funnel before she concentrated harder on the controls and the ship went out of stealth mode and finally managed to escape the tornado. She flew the Bioship to the edge of the parking lot and landed it.

All of them dropped down through the opening on the underside of the ship. Aqualad looked at the huge twister with more than a little fear. "Robin, are tornados common to New England?" Turning around he saw that his teammate was no longer there. "Robin?" He yelled, when suddenly they all heard Robin's signature laugh seemingly coming from everywhere. "He was just here." Miss Martian said as she also looked around.

Suddenly the windows at the top of the power plant began shattering outwards. They all ran inside in time to see Robin get flung against a wall. Standing near him was a large man in what looked like some kind of red and blue power armor with a dark brown scarf wrapped around the face. The armor also had glowing blue tubes running from the back of the shoulders to the undersides of his arms near his wrists.

Superboy jumped down a flight of stairs and landed beside him. "Who's your friend?" He asked. "Didn't catch his name, but he plays kind of rough." Came Robin's response as everyone else joined him and Superboy charged ahead.

"My apologies. You may address me as Mister Twister." Twister said as he began creating small tornadoes and flinging them at Suberboy's charging form. The young Kryptonian was slowed by the winds but attempted to power through them. Eventually though, he was flung backwards and into one of the walls, leaving large spider web cracks in it. Everyone looked at where he had landed and got their game faces on. Kid Flash pulled out a pair of goggles and put them on as they all looked at each other and charged.

As usual Kid Flash took the lead with his super speed and attempted a jumping leap at Mister Twister. He hit the man in the chest but was immediately flung out the back of the power plant by powerful winds. Aqualad, Miss Martian, and Alchemist all charged at Twister. He used his wind manipulation powers to fling all three of them away from him. They all hit hard against different pieces of equipment inside the plant and Robin glared at Twister through his glasses. "I was prepared to be challenged by a super hero, I was not however expecting children." Twister said arrogantly.

"We're not children." Robin argued as he threw a small bomb and a batarang at Twister. He used his wind powers to create a shield, but the bomb blew the shield away when it exploded and the batarang hit him in the chest. Twister seemed unconcerned with the beeping device. "Objectively you are." He said as he flicked it off his chest and it exploded well away from him. "Have you no adult supervision? I find your presence to be quite… disturbing."

"Well, we'd hate to see you disturbed. Let's see if you're more turbed when we kick your can." Robin said as Miss Martian telekinetically broke a piece of equipment over Twister's head, bringing it down on him, as well as a plume of dust and minor debris. Suddenly Superboy came flying through the cloud of dust. Twister merely raised his hands and blasted Superboy away from him and directly into Miss Martian's flying form. Aqualad, Robin, and Alchemist tried to charge Twister together, but he created small tornadoes and used them to swing the three of them around before slamming them into each other.

"Indeed, that was quite turbing." Twister said sarcastically as he started flying away. Before he got very far Kid Flash once again intercepted him. "What did you do to my team?" He asked angrily.

"Embarrassed them largely." Twister said before he created another tornado that picked Kid Flash up and hurled him toward the power plant. M'gann caught him with her psychic powers. "I got you Wally." She said as the rest of the team came stalking out of the plant. "I would've thought you had all learned your limitations by now." Twister said as he rose higher into the air.

"What do you want?" Aqualad yelled up at Twister. "Isn't it obvious? I'm waiting for a real hero." He said, all confident arrogance. "M'gann read his mind. Find a weakness." Aqualad commanded her. She looked apprehensive. "I thought I wasn't supposed to do that." "It's okay with the bad guys." Robin explained.

Miss Martian nodded slowly before closing her eyes and concentrating on Twister, trying to access his mind. "Nothing, I'm getting nothing." She said, sounding frustrated before suddenly hitting herself in the forehead again. "Hello Megan. Mister Twister is Red Tornado in disguise. He's inorganic, an android. And how many androids do you know that can generate tornados?"

"Red Tornado sent us here." Aqualad said. Robin grimaced at the realization. "After saying we'd be tested soon enough. This is his test, something to keep us busy." "Speedy called it, we're a joke." Kid Flash put in angrily. Aqualad slammed his fist into his hand in sheer frustration and started walking towards Twister. Alchemist also had an angry look, thinking that Red Tornado was only there to keep them busy, and not send them out on real missions. "This game is over." He said with a tone of finality.

"We know who you are and what you want." Robin said. "So let's end this." Aqualad added. "Consider it ended." Twister said as he raised his hands and began creating a massive tornado overhead. "An impressive show, but we will not indulge you. We will not engage." Aqualad stated.

The tornado above Twister began generating lightning around him. "Uh guys. I'm pretty sure Red Tornado can't do that." Alchemist said. "You think I'm Tornado? Ironic." Twister said as a large lightning strike hit the ground in front of the Team, knocking them all away and shredding Superboy's jacket. He pulled the tatters off and jumped hard toward Mister Twister only to catch another direct lightning strike to the chest. The blast caused the young clone to hit the ground like a meteor and plowed a large furrow into the ground until he came to rest next to the rest of the Team.

Twister began to descend toward them with lightning crackling around his hands when suddenly all of the young heroes disappeared. Wally began to groan as he woke up, but M'gann put her hand over his mouth to keep him silent. "Fine then. I'll admit you children have power, but playing hide and seek with you would not help me achieve my objective. So stay concealed. If you confront me again, I will show no mercy." He threatened before flying off toward the Happy Harbor marina.

Everyone finally began waking up. "What happened?" Alchemist asked, not remembering anything after the lightning strike. "I placed the Bioship between us." M'gann answered. Superboy began angrily punching the ground. "And that's supposed to make it alright? You tricked us into thinking that Twister was Red Tornado." He accused.

"She didn't do it on purpose." Aqualad said, interposing himself between Superboy and Miss Martian. "It was a mistake, a rookie mistake. We shouldn't have listened." Robin said. Kid Flash nodded. "You are pretty inexperienced." He said as he rubbed the back of his head. "Hit the showers, we'll take it from here." That comment earned him a hard punch in the arm from Alchemist. "Hey dude, what was that for?" He asked, confused by his action. "You sound exactly like the Justice league. 'We'll take it from here'? How arrogant can you get? If we don't all stick together then this team will fall apart before it really even comes together." He said angrily before pulling his new alchemy gauntlet out of his backpack and putting it on.

Superboy just scowled at M'gann. "Just stay out of our way." He said before taking a huge running jump after Twister. Robin and Wally both took off after the young kryptonian. M'gann just looked up at Jak and Kaldur with tears and her eyes. "I was just trying to be part of the team." Jak and Kaldur exchanged sad looks. "To be honest, I'm not sure that we even have a team." Kaldur said before he also took off after the others. "I don't blame you for making a mistake M'gann. I'm just as new to the hero gig as you are. You just need to show confidence and prove to them that you belong. I can't tell you what to do, but I definitely think that we need your help." Jak said before he left, leaving the young Martian to think about what he had said.

The Team found Twister at the Happy Harbor marina tearing it apart with his tornados. "Certainly this will get the required attention." "You've got ours. Full and undivided." Kid Flash said as he came running up at super speed and jumped up and delivered a big drop kick to Twister's chest, shoving him back several feet.

"Immaterial and insufficient. You are a distraction I can no longer tolerate." Twister said as Superboy came dropping out of the sky to try and hit him. Twister deftly dodged the kryptonian clone and created two large cyclones to throw at Superboy and Kid Flash. Before the twin tornadoes could strike the young heroes they were hit by a large flow of water filled. The water flow completely dispersed the cyclones and pooled around Twisters feet.

Looking behind them Kid Flash and Superboy expected to see Aqualad but were surprised to find Alchemist standing there instead. His new gauntlet was still glowing slightly from using his alchemy. Before anyone could react Alchemist lifted his arm again and this time the water around Twister froze into a large sheet that trapped Twister's legs and Superboy charged him. Twister used his tornadoes to break the ice around his feet and fling the three of them away from him.

After flinging Superboy away he used his wind powers to pick up a boat and smash it on top of the Kryptonian clone. He turned around just as Aqualad and Robin charged him. Twister threw a small tornado at the Atlantean, who dodged around it and continued his attack. But before he could get close enough Twister grabbed him up in a wind bubble and threw him into an upper window of a colonial style house before chasing after Kid Flash with his winds, and defending himself from Robin's bombs. He then dodged a strong punch from Superboy and used a large tornado to throw him at the same building as Aqualad. Twister then used another tornado to pick up another boat to throw.

As the water tornado lifted the boat it was abruptly flash frozen. Looking around Twister saw a smirking Alchemist with his gauntleted hand raised. While they were having their standoff Kid Flash and Robin were taking cover behind the wreck of another boat. Robin pulled his utility belt from inside his jacket and wrapped it around his chest like a bandoleer. "You brought your utility belt?" Kid Flash asked incredulously.

"Never leave home without it. First thing Batman taught me." Robin explained. "Yeah. Right after never go to the bathroom without it." Kid Flash said sarcastically.

'_Listen to me. All of you.'_ Miss Martian's voice was suddenly in all of their heads. "What did we tell you?" Superboy yelled out loud at the telepath. _'I know, and I know I messed up. But now I'm very clear on what we need to do. Please trust me.'_

As Twister continued tearing up the marina suddenly Red Tornado came flying toward them. "Hit the showers boys." He said as he landed in front of The Team. "I was hoping you could handle this. Clearly you cannot." He reprimanded. "But we've got a plan now." Robin protested. "The subject is not up for debate." Tornado declared with finality. The boys sullenly began walking away from their supervisor.

The two stood facing each other for several moments. "I was beginning to believe you'd never show up." Twister said condescendingly. "I'm here now." Tornado said as he raised his arm and a whirlwind appeared behind him. He flung the tornado at Twister, who dodged around it and hurled his own cyclone at Red Tornado's. The two wind attacks cancelled each other out and Twister threw another one directly at Tornado, who raised his hand and dissipated Twister's wind with his own.

"We're evenly matched Twister." Red Tornado said as he created another large cyclone behind himself and used it to hurl chunks of rock at Twister. "No Tornado we are not." Twister asserted as he punched the ground and created a wind shield to stop the rubble from hitting him. Once the barrage of rubble subsided he began blasting at Tornado with his lightning ability. Tornado started hovering around to dodge the lightning strike but it struck a boat, causing it to explode and Tornado was caught in that explosion. The explosion hurled Tornado to the ground with electricity crackling around him.

Twister hovered over to him and lifted his hand. "Remain still android." He said as his front of his fingers opened up and wires came out and attached themselves to the back of Tornado's head. "The reprogramming won't take long." All of a sudden Tornado's hand reached up and grabbed all of the wires and his head morphed into M'gann.

"Longer than you might think." She said as she used her telekinetic powers to push Twister away from her and into a tornado, breaking all of the wires from his hand. The tornado swung Twister around once before flinging him away and slowed down, revealing Kid Flash inside.

Twister was thrown toward Superboy who was finally able to take out his frustrations on someone. He struck Twister in the body several times; causing massive damage to the armor, before the final punch hurled Twister across the ground and into the water.

Underneath the water Aqualad swam swiftly at Twister and struck him in the shoulder joint with an anchor. He then used his Atlantean magic to push electricity through the anchor and into Twister. This caused a massive explosion that blew Twister's arm clean off his body and flung him out of the water.

While he was in the air, Alchemist used his alchemy gauntlet to create large ice spikes that he hurled at Twister, piercing him in several places. Once he struck the ground Miss Martian used her psychic powers to lift him into the air and rip off his other arm, as well as all of the tubes from his body. Finally Robin flung several explosive batarangs at Twister, all of which struck him and sent him plummeting back to earth.

Once the dust settled Twister managed to get back to a kneeling position. His chest opened up and a man in a green and white body suit came tumbling out of his power armor. "Foul, I…I call foul." He stammered as the Team walked up to him. M'gann suddenly used her telekinesis to lift a boulder. "M'gann no!" Aqualad screamed as the young Martian smashed it down on top of the man.

Everyone was shocked by her actions and Robin became angry. He stormed up to her. "Don't know how things are done on Mars, but on Earth we don't execute our captives!" She was not ruffled at all by his admonishment, even smiling at him. "You said you trusted me." She said as she lifted the boulder, revealing the fact that he was a robot. "That's why I couldn't read his mind." She explained as Kid Flash knelt down by the robotic body and picked up one of his eyeballs. "Cool… Souvenir." He said as he tossed it into the air and caught it.

Kaldur put his hand on M'gann's shoulder. "We should have had more faith in you." "Absolutely Kaldur. We all need to have faith in each other and in this Team." Jak said, looking around at everyone else. "Yeah, you rocked this mission. Get it? Rocked." Wally said in a lame attempt at a joke. "Ignore him." Robin suggested. "We're all just turbed that your on the Team." "Thanks. Me too." M'gann said.

That evening they were all inside The Cave examining the robot inside the Mr. Twister armor. "It was clearly created to sabotage or even destroy you." Kaldur surmised. "Agreed." Tornado said. "Is that why you wouldn't help us?" M'gann asked.

"No. This was your battle. I do not believe that it is my job to solve your problems for you. Nor should you solve mine for me." Tornado explained. "B-but if you're in danger?" M'gann began. "Consider this matter closed." Tornado interrupted before walking away.

"Batman, Aquaman, and Flash? They'd have jumped right in to fix things." Wally said. Robin nodded in agreement. "Well I guess if we're gonna have a babysitter, a heartless machine is exactly what we need." "Dude harsh." Wally snapped at him. "And inaccurate. I have a heart. Carbon steel alloy. I also have excellent hearing." He said, sounding almost like he was making a joke.

Robin smiled sheepishly. "Right, I'll strive to be more accurate." "And more respectful." Aqualad admonished. Jak was trying no to laugh at his friend's predicament. They all started walking toward the common room in the Cave. "Speedy was so wrong." Wally said. "This team thing." Robin began. "Might just work out." Kaldur finished. "It definitely will." Jak said, already getting ideas for more kinds of alchemy after their battle with Twister.

M'gann and Superboy looked at each other before he got an awkward look on his face and muttered. "Sorry." Before walking away.

**END CHAPTER ONE.**


	3. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO: TAKING THE LEAD**

{_Location: Caribbean Sea_}

The Bioship was flying over the open ocean. Miss Martian was at the helm and everyone else was strapped in. "Approaching Santa Prisca." She reported. The atmosphere inside the Bioship was very tense. Alchemist thought back to the team briefing a few days earlier.

_**Flashback**__: Two days earlier _{_Location: Mount Justice_}

"Isla Santa Prisca." Batman said as he began their mission briefing. "This island nation is the primary source of a dangerous and illegal neo steroid. A strength enhancing drug, sold under the street name 'Venom'." He pulled up several maps of the island, everything from satellite images to aerial drone pictures. "Infrared heat signatures indicate that their factory is still operating at full capacity, but all shipments of venom have been inexplicably cut off. That's where this team comes in. This is a covert recon mission only. You are to observe and report only. If the Justice League needs to intervene, it will." He said, giving them all a stern look before turning back to the holo screen and pulled up a map of Santa Prisca with points A and B. "The plan will require two drop zones."

"So who's in charge?" Robin asked excitedly. Batman and Red Tornado looked at each other before Batman answered. "Work that out between you."

_**End Flashback**__:_

"Drop zone A in thirty." Miss Martian announced. Aqualad stood up from his seat and pressed the symbol on his belt, turning his suit from the usual red and blue to dark gray and black. "Putting Bioship in camouflage mode." Miss Martian said, as the Bioship turned transparent. The bottom on the ship opened up and Aqualad dropped out into the water.

"_Heat and motion sensors are patched. Data is now on a continuous loop, move in._" Aqualad reported over the comms. Alchemist was nervous about this mission. It was his first real mission with the Team and he didn't want to disappoint. "Drop zone B." Miss Martian said as everyone stood up. She lifted her hand and lines dropped from the ceiling for everyone to hook on with. Both Alchemist and Kid Flash activated their own stealth mode, turning the brighter colors of their hero costumes black or dark gray.

"How cool is this?" Kid Flash asked while admiring his new stealth tech. "Very impressive." Miss Martian said with slight sarcasm as she shifted her own clothing to a black form with a hooded blue cloak. Kid Flash was somewhat deflated by this. "Uh… that works too. Hey Supey not too late to put on the new stealth tech." He offered the Kryptonian. Superboy looked unimpressed. "No capes, no tights, no offense." He said crossing his arms. "It totally works for you." Miss M said with a slightly dreamy look on her face. Realizing that she had spoken out loud she quickly tried to save face. "In that you can totally do good work in those clothes."

Looking a little embarrassed by what she had said she quickly pulled her hood over her head and went into her own camo mode. They quickly got down to business and opened the bottom of the Bioship and they descended on their lines. Looking up they all had to quickly dodge out of the way as Superboy dropped down with no line and caused a small tremor and left a small crater in the ground. "Knew I didn't need a line." He said with a smirk.

"And you thought that creating a seismic event would somehow help us be covert?" Alchemist asked. "Aqualad, drop B is go." Miss Martian told the Atlantean. "_Head for the factory. I'll track your GPS and rendezvous ASAP._" He replied. "Roger that." Robin said as he checked his wrist computer's map. They all took off in the direction of the factory. As they were walking through the jungle, Superboy suddenly stopped them. "Did you hear that?"

Kid Flash turned to give him an incredulous look. "Uh, no. Wait is this a super hearing thing?" He asked. "You do have great ears." Miss M said coyly. "Okay Robin. What do we do now?" Alchemist asked, looking around for the Boy Wonder but not seeing anything. "Man I hate it when he does that." Kid Flash put in. "_Superboy, Kid. Switch to infrared to see if you're being tracked._" Aqualad said over the comms.

Kid Flash pulled down his goggles and activated his thermal vision and looked around. "Got a squad of armed bozos incoming." He reported. "Make that two squads." Superboy reported as he took cover behind a log and also looked around. "But they'll meet each other before they find us." Suddenly lots of automatic gunfire filled the air.

"No super hearing required now." Kid Flash said sarcastically. "_Swing wide and steer clear._" Aqualad instructed. "Yeah, as soon as I find Rob." Kid Flash said as he took off at super speed. Unfortunately he quickly slipped in the mud and fell right in between the two groups of people shooting at each other. "So much for the stealthy." He said lamely. Both groups wasted no time shooting at the speedster as well as each other.

The rest of the Team quickly came to Kid Flash's aid with Superboy tackling Bane to the ground before hurling him against a tree. Kid Flash continued dodging bullets as Robin dropped down from a tree onto two of the thugs and began fighting them. "What is wrong with you guys? Remember covert? Why didn't you follow my lead and vanish into the jungle?" He asked as he knocked out the two he was fighting.

"Oh that's what you were doing?" Kid Flash asked sarcastically as he knocked out another of the thugs. Alchemist was using his watch to knock the guns from several of the thug's hands, before swinging it around and knocking them out as well. "You forgot to fill us in on that Robin, we aren't mind readers." Alchemist said before one of the men was thrown against a tree behind him. Looking around the rookie hero saw Miss Martian using her mental abilities to take them apart. "Well, at least most of us aren't." He amended. Looking around, they saw one of the men trying to escape but before Robin could ready a batarang, Aqualad landed in front of him and hit him with an electrical jolt from his eel tattoos.

After the fight was over they had everyone tied up tightly and the young heroes conferred among themselves. "I recognize these uniforms. They belong to the Cult of the Kobra." Robin explained. "I am certain Batman would have mentioned it if he knew that a dangerous extremist was running Santa Prisca's Venom operation." Aqualad said. "Agreed. And since there's obviously no love lost between the cultists and these goons, I'm betting that Kobra came in and tossed them out. That's why normal supply lines have been cut off." Robin theorized. It certainly sounded plausible to everyone.

"Okay, we get it. Kobra wanted super cultists. Mystery solved, so lets radio Bats and we'll be home in time for." Kid Flash began impatiently. "These cultists aren't on Venom." Alchemist interrupted. Kid looked at him like he had grown a second head. "I mean look at them. I've read up on Venom and none of these guys are showing any of the effects of venom." He pointed out. "Alchemist is right, Kobra isn't using Venom, they're hording the stuff. We're not leaving, not until I know why." Robin said resolutely.

"Until _you_ know why?" Kid asked him. "This Team needs a leader." Robin said testily. "Oh and It's you? Kid asked poking Robin in the chest. "Dude you're a thirteen year old kid, who ducked out on us without a word." He accused. Robin just started laughing. "And you're a mature fifteen? You blew our cover the first chance you got." He accused back.

Miss Martian, Alchemist and Superboy were all standing back watching the fight. "Don't either of you want to lead?" She asked her two roommates. Both of them shook their heads. "No way. I have the least experience out of anyone here." Alchemist said. "Don't you?" Superboy asked her. Miss Martian held up her hands defensively. "After the Mister Twister fiasco?" She asked. Superboy smiled at her. "You did alright." He said kindly, causing her to blush. Suddenly he concentrated on the quiet conversation that Bane was having with one of his men in Spanish.

Turning back to the argument in front of him Alchemist saw that it had devolved into little more than name-calling. "Yeah well you don't even have super powers." Kid Flash accused. "Neither does Batman." Robin countered. "You're not Batman." Kid said. "Closest thing we've got."

Suddenly Bane started laughing, which got everyone's attention. "Such clever niños, but you only know half the story. Let me show you the rest. Get you into the factory via my secret entrance." He offered. Miss Martian kneeled down in front of him. "There is a secret entrance, but he's also hiding something." She said as she tried to use her mental powers to delve deeper into his mind.

Bane just smiled at her. "Ah ah ah chica, Bane is not that easy." Miss M shook her head and growled in frustration. "He's mentally reciting football scores in Espanola. This could take a while." "It's not that complicated." He assured them. "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." The Team all looked at each other before nodding in agreement.

The Team, plus Bane, quickly made their way across the island to a cliff overlooking the factory. Looking through binoculars they were able to see several forklifts carrying crates of what they could only assume was Venom out of the factory. "Look at all that product." Robin said. "A buy is going down, but if Kobra isn't selling to the usual suspects." "We must find out who that buyer is." Aqualad finished for Robin.

"Just what I was thinking." Kid Flash said. "Yeah. You're the thinker." Robin said sarcastically. "Dude, sarcasm?" Kid asked testily. "You two need to knock it off." Alchemist said, getting sick of their constant bickering. "He's right. A real leader would focus on getting answers." Kid Flash said.

Off to the side of the group Bane was picking up a large boulder that was blocking a cave entrance. Dusting off his hands he pointed inside the now revealed and lit tunnel. "Answers are this way." He said cheerfully. "So now El Luchadore is our leader." Kid said, getting a smack from Robin. They followed the Hispanic Villain further down the tunnel until they reached a large metal door. Bane placed his thumb on a scanner and the door panel lit green and it opened.

They quietly made their way through the factory until they saw a control room at overlooking the factory floor. "All clear." Robin reported as he quickly disappeared into the room. The rest of the team followed. "Has that little fool already been caught?" Bane asked, looking around and no longer seeing Robin. "No. He just does that." Aqualad said in resignation.

Kid Flash pulled his goggles over his eyes with a smile. "Stay put. I'll get our Intel and be back before the Boy Wonder." He said. "Wait Kid." Aqualad began, but it was already too late as the speedster took off. "Great chain of command." Bane pointed out.

The rest of them had no choice but to wait for Robin and Kid Flash to return, so they hunkered down and tried to remain hidden. "It's a massive shipment." Aqualad said. "Yeah, but they're only taking new product off the line. They're not touching this Venom." Alchemist pointed out. "Maybe freshness counts?" Miss Martian asked, in what seemed like an attempt at humor. "Helicopter's coming." Superboy said suddenly. It took the rest of them a bit longer to hear the distinctive sound of the approaching helicopter.

"We need to find out who the buyer is." Alchemist said. Aqualad nodded in agreement. "I can go into stealth mode and go spy on them." Miss Martian suggested. "Good idea. If we can learn who the buyer is, we will have something to bring back to the League." Aqualad said.

Miss Martian pulled her hood over her head and went invisible before taking off. A few tense minutes later they heard her voice in their heads. '_Aqualad. Sending you a telepathic image of the buyer now._' She reported, and suddenly there was an image in their heads of a tall, broad man with blonde hair, wearing a hockey mask and other pieces of armor over a purple jumpsuit. "Sports Master. He is the buyer."

Aqualad quickly put his hand to his ear. "Aqualad to Red Tornado, do you read?" He asked, but got nothing except static as a response. "Robin, Kid? Do you copy?" Alchemist tried getting his teammates on comms and got the same result. "Can't reach the League, Robin or Kid Flash. Comms are being jammed." Aqualad decided. "We need a plan. Now." He said decisively.

Bane smiled widely at them. "I have a suggestion." He said before jumping off the catwalk they were hiding on and attacking several Kobra cultists. The Team could only stare in shock. "What the hell is he…" Alchemist began but before he could even get his thought out a huge monstrosity jumped through a window of the factory and landed on their catwalk, causing it to collapse and all of them to tumble to the ground.

As they all recovered they got a good look at the beast. He was large with a greenish-brown hide covering it. The hide had what looked like several rips in it, exposing red flesh beneath. He roared massively at the Team before as Lord Kobra came walking up behind him. "Destroy them." He ordered.

Superboy attacked the mammoth monster as Aqualad created a shield with his Water Bearers to protect himself from the cultists. Alchemist began ducking between containers and using the water that Aqualad created to create ice slicks for the cultists to slip on, before knocking them out with his alchemy watch. Miss Martian was still flying around invisible and using her telekinesis to throw cultists around the battlefield.

Suddenly Sports master pulled a javelin from his pack and threw it over the battlefield. The weapon exploded mid air and knocked Miss M to the ground and out of her invisible mode. As the young heroes continued to fight against all of the cultists Aqualad suddenly yelled out. "Miss Martian, the radio is jammed. Link us up." He ordered.

Suddenly they were all in telepathic contact. '_Everyone online?_' She asked. '_Yeah_.' Was Superboy's testy response. '_Me too_.' Alchemist thought as he super cooled the air in around several cultists' guns, warping their metal and causing them to misfire. '_You know it beautiful_.' Kid flash reported. '_Good, we need to regroup_.' Aqualad instructed. '_Busy now._' Robin thought as he confronted Lord Kobra and the girl with him.

"Batman must be desperate if he sends his whelp to task me." Kobra said arrogantly. "What's wrong Koby? You look disconcerted." Robin said glibly. "This is beneath me. Shimmer take him." He ordered and the girl took off to engage Robin. He merely smirked at her before flipping over her and landing in-between her and Kobra. Shimmer merely charged him again. '_Robin now_.' Aqualad ordered, and Robin threw down a flash bomb and disappeared.

Aqualad was using water whips to knock away Kobra cultists. '_We need to escape_.' He thought. '_I've got this_.' Alchemist thought as his transmutation circle began to glow. Suddenly a huge amount of steam sprung up from out of nowhere to cover the entire factory floor. '_Kid, go thermal and clear us a path._' Aqualad ordered. Kid did as ordered. Kid Flash began using his speed to knock cultists away so they could make a break for the tunnel entrance.

Superboy and Mammoth were still fighting but The Kryptonian flung him at several of the cultists and they made it through the secret door. Mammoth quickly crashed through right behind them and more cultists made it into the tunnel and began shooting at the Team. "Superboy the support beams." Aqualad pointed out and Superboy started punching beams to bring down a section of the roof.

They finally had a bit of breathing room and Aqualad snapped a chemical stick that bathed the area in red light. "How could my first mission as leader go so wrong?" Robin asked the empty air. "You do have the most experience, but perhaps that is exactly what has left you unprepared. Fighting alongside Batman your roles are defined. You do not need to talk, but this team is new. A leader must be clear, explicit. He cannot vanish and expect others to play roles in an unknown plan." Aqualad said, getting nods from the rest of the Team.

"Oh so I'm supposed to hold everyone's hands?" Robin asked, sounding outraged, it lasted for about three seconds. "Oh who am I kidding?" He asked rhetorically. "You should lead us Kaldur. You already have as far as I'm concerned." Alchemist said, echoing the thoughts of Superboy and Miss Martian. "Oh please. I can run circles." Kid Flash began. "Wally come on." Robin interrupted. "You know he's the one. We all do." "Absolutely." Miss Martian said. "Could've told you." Superboy said.

Aqualad walked forward, still feeling humble. "Then I accept the burden." He said, placing his hand on Robin's shoulder. "Until you are ready to lift it from my shoulders. You were born to lead this team. Maybe not now, but soon." He said, getting a nod from Robin. "Alright, our first priority is preventing that shipment from leaving this island." He said decisively. "Funny, I had the same thought." Robin said

They were all running through the jungle, pooling their collective knowledge. "Sports Master is the supplier slash buyer, but it still doesn't track. He doesn't have the juice to acquire the Blockbuster formula, or to get Kobra to do his dirty work." "And neither of them have the chops to bond Blockbuster to Venom. That took some major nerdage." Kid Flash added. "I believe the expression is 'tip of the iceberg'." Aqualad said.

Suddenly Bane stepped into their path with a detonator in his hand. "Halt Niños. I'm feeling explosive." He said. Looking around, they saw several bombs surrounding them. "You betrayed us. Why?" Aqualad asked. "I want my factory back." Bane explained. '_Kid, you'll need a running start_.' Aqualad said via the mental link. Kid began to subtly back away from Bane. "So I forced you into a situation where you would either take down my enemies, or die trying. If the latter, the justice league would certainly have come to avenge their sidekicks. And when the smoke cleared, Santa Prisca would be mine once again. Blowing the tunnel with you inside should have the same effect." He said as he tried to push the button, but there was no explosion. Looking down he saw that his hand was empty.

"With what? This trigger thingy?" Kid Flash asked from behind him while holding the detonator in his hand. He went to punch Kid Flash when Miss Martian suddenly pulled him into the air. Superboy walked up beside her with a big smile on his face. "Finally." He said in anticipation. "Drop him." Miss Martian complied and the big Latino fell right onto Superboy's waiting punch.

Back at the airfield the helicopter was finally starting up. "The helicopter is operational exalted one." One of the Kobra cultists said. Once Sports Master heard that, he began walking toward it, but was stopped as Kid Flash came zipping through knocking cultists to the ground as he went. "Take the shipment." Lord Kobra ordered. As Sports Master started heading to the chopper again Superboy suddenly landed in front of them. "Go again?" He asked Mammoth with a smirk.

He roared in response and charged Superboy, but was intercepted by a stream of water that pushed him to the side. "Sorry, but that's not the plan." He said. Aqualad was the one blasting him with water that he was controlling. Suddenly Sports Master, who was wielding a powerful laser rifle, shot from behind Superboy. Miss Martian tried to help him while invisible, but Sports Master was able to sense her coming and blasted her with the rifle as well. He then took her hostage and continued blasting away at Superboy.

Kid Flash was playing havoc on the cultists with his super speed, knocking many of them out before they even knew what hit them. As he knocked one of them out he took his mask from him. "Souvenir." He said happily. Shimmer and Lord Kobra were watching all this go by, but She suddenly dodged a bolas that Robin threw at her. However before she could retaliate Alchemist appeared in front of her "Care to dance?" He asked her. Shimmer growled at him and began attacking him, leaving Robin and Kobra standing alone. "I know you hate getting your hands dirty." Robin said snidely. "True." Kobra said as he removed his hooded robe. "But sometimes even a god must stoop to conquer."

Robin began a furious set of attacks at Kobra, but was completely outclassed by the older man. "What's wrong boy? You look disconcerted." Kobra said with absolutely no expression.

Shimmer kept trying to attack Alchemist, but was stopped by the combination of his Liquid alchemy and his use of his watch as a bludgeoning weapon. Suddenly while she was dodging several ice spikes that Alchemist threw at her, she got in close to the young hero and struck him with a rapid succession of punches to his torso. The blows knocked the young hero back several steps. Shimmer just smirked at him before charging again. Alchemist suddenly smiled before raising his alchemy gauntlet. The water all over the ground suddenly surged toward Shimmer and covered her to the waist before flash freezing. "And that's checkmate." Alchemist said.

Meanwhile Kid Flash was continuing to beat up cultists, while Aqualad kept Mammoth at bay with the water he was controlling. Suddenly he put away one of his Water Bearers and activated his eel tattoos. He then used it to send a massive electric shock down the stream of water and into Mammoth. The huge monster convulsed before collapsing.

Sports Master was still keeping Superboy at bay with his laser rifle while holding on to Miss Martian. "Thanks for the workout, but I've got to fly." He said before throwing Miss M at Superboy and running into the helicopter. He quickly took off with the full shipment of Kobra's new Blockbuster enhanced Venom. Superboy and Miss Martian looked at each other before they both smirked at each other and Miss M held up the same detonator that they had taken from Bane earlier. She pushed the button and suddenly a large explosion came from the back of the helicopter. The chopper crashed onto the factory with a huge fiery explosion.

Robin was getting his butt kicked by Lord Kobra, ending up lying on his back with Kobra's foot planted on his chest. "I am plagued by mosquitoes." He said in frustration. "Good, cause this mosquito is mighty concerted over your pain." Robin said as he used a kick of his own to escape from Lord Kobra. Rolling backwards onto his feet he stood up to face Kobra with the rest of the Team behind him. Kobra looked at the young heroes arrayed in front of him before backing into the hollow of a tree. "Another time then." He said as he disappeared. Robin ran to the opening and found Kobra gone.

As the team collected themselves after their battle Robin looked at Aqualad and smiled. "We picked the right guy to lead." He said as they surveyed the wreckage of the factory. "Automatically making you the right guy to explain this mess to Batman." He said as he laughed.

{_Location: Mount Justice_}

The Team was standing at attention in front of a very livid Batman. "A simple recon mission. Observe and report." He said as he walked up and down the line of young heroes. "You will each receive a written evaluation detailing your many mistakes. Until then, good job." He said, much to the surprise of the Team. "No battle plan survives first contact with the enemy." He explained. "How you adjust to the unforeseen is how you succeed. And who you choose to lead, determines character."


	4. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE: LEARNING CONTROL**

{_Location: Mount Justice_}

The Team was watching Kaldur and Wally playing holographic air hockey. Unfortunately for the Atlantean he was losing, badly. "_Recognized Superboy B-04_." Came the computers voice as the Kryptonian clone Zeta tubed into The Cave. M'gann smiled at his arrival. "Hi Superboy. How was Metropolis?" She asked. He in turn completely ignored her question and walked right through the game hologram.

A soft feminine cough sounded out behind them. "Ready for training everyone?" Turning the group saw Black Canary and Martian Manhunter walking towards them. "Black Canary, Uncle J'onn." M'gann said, happily surprised to see her uncle. "M'gann, I was in the neighborhood so I thought I'd see how you were adjusting." He said to his niece. "A few bumps, but I'm learning." She replied. "That's all I can ask."

"Stick around." Black Canary said to Superboy's retreating form. "Class is in session." She said as the floor lit up. "I consider it an honor to be your teacher. I'll throw a lot at you. Everything I've learned from my own mentors." She explained as she took off her jacket, however she winced in pain as she looked at her bandaged arm. "And my own bruises."

"What happened?" M'gann asked. "The job." Was her only explanation. "Now, combat is about controlling conflict, putting the battle on your terms. You should always be acting, never reacting. I'll need a sparring partner." Wally immediately raised his hand. "Right here, yeah. After this, swish." He said as he tossed his banana peel in the trash. "I'll show you my moves." He said with a suggestive smile. Black Canary just smirked at him and threw a punch which was blocked, but then she dropped down and did a leg sweep that took Wally's legs right out from under him that caused him to hit the floor hard. "Ow, it hurts so good." He said lamely from his place on the floor.

"Good block, but did anyone see what he did wrong?" Black canary asked as she helped Wally to his feet. "Ooh, he hit on teacher and got served?" Robin asked, poking fun at his friend. "He allowed me to dictate the terms of…" "Oh please." Superboy interrupted rudely. "With my powers the battles always on my terms. I'm a living weapon and this is a waste of my time." Black Canary just smirked at him. "Prove it." Superboy stalked up to her angrily before they both got into combat stances. He quickly threw a punch, but Canary caught it and threw him across the room onto the floor. Robin started laughing as Superboy was sent tumbling, but got an elbow in the back from Jak and the Boy Wonder tried unsuccessfully to stifle his laughter.

Superboy got back up growling angrily. "You're angry, good but don't react. Channel that anger into…" She began but was interrupted by Superboy's rage filled charge. Canary flipped over him, ducked his backhand attempt and kicked his legs out from under him. Robin was still trying poorly to conceal his laughter. "That's it, I'm done." Superboy said. "Training is mandatory." Black Canary said.

Before Superboy could argue more a holographic screen appeared in the air with Batman's face on it. "Batman to the Cave. Five hours ago a new menace attacked Green Arrow and Black Canary. The attacker was capable of studying and then duplicating the powers and abilities of its opponents. Green Arrow called in reinforcements, which nearly proved disastrous as our opponent gained more and more power with each new combatant." He explained as video footage of the battle showed on the screen. "Whoa, one guy with the powers of the entire league?" Jak said, horrified at the thought of something so powerful. "In the end it took eight leaguers four hours to defeat and dismantle the android."

"An android? Who built it Doctor T.O. Morrow?" Robin asked, thinking of the most likely robotics expert. "Good guess Robin, but Red Tornado doesn't think so." "The technology bears the signature of Professor Ivo." Martian Manhunter said. "Ivo? But Ivo's dead." Aqualad said. "So we all thought. Or hoped." Black Canary put in. "To make certain this threat is permanently neutralized we're sending two trucks carrying the android's parts to two separate S.T.A.R. Labs facilities in Boston and New York for immediate evaluation. Every precaution is being taken. We'll have four additional decoy trucks to create confusion in case Ivo or anyone tries to recover the remains. You will split into undercover teams to safeguard the two real trucks." Batman explained.

"Yes. Road trip." Wally said excitedly. "So now we take out your trash?" Superboy asked sarcastically. "You had something better to do?" Batman asked. "Coordinates received, on our way." Aqualad said as the Team took off. Black Canary stopped Superboy as he was walking away. "When you're ready, I'll be here." She told him in a gentle voice.

{_Location: Litchfield County_}

The Team was hiding in the bushes as the League was supervising the loading of the two real trucks with the android pieces. They all got on their motorcycles in street clothes and waited for them to take off. Finally all six trucks took off, three headed for Boston and the rest going to New York. The Team split up to follow both shipments. Robin, Superboy and Alchemist following one, and Aqualad, Kid Flash and Miss Martian following the other.

The mission was going well, and Robin was filling the quiet time with idle conversation. "If dislike is the opposite of like, is disaster the opposite of aster? See instead of things going wrong they go right." Jak laughed at Robin's attempts to cheer up Superboy, who just ignored him with a surly grunt. "Uh, clearly you're not feeling the aster. What's wrong?" He asked. "Canary, I mean what business does she have teaching combat skills to a guy with super strength?" He asked angrily. "Taking down stronger guys is part of the gig, Canary learned that the hard way. Same thing with Batman and well me." Robin's explanation didn't soother the Kryptonian clones temper any as he gunned his bike to get away from his teammates.

Jak just shook his head. "What are we gonna do with him? He's constantly angry." He asked. "I don't know." Robin admitted as they continued driving. Suddenly a bunch of black and green robotic monkeys started attacking their truck. "_Robin, Superboy, Alchemist. Our truck is under attack_." Came Aqualad's voice over the comms. "Kind of figured." Robin replied. "I hate monkeys." Superboy said.

"Robot monkeys. That's totally Ivo's tweak style." Robin said while laughing. Both Robin and Alchemist activated their bike's battle mode. Robin's bike turned into a singe wheel machine and the back section turned into a flying drone, and Alchemist's two wheels spit into four and a twin laser gun popped up from the front. Superboy didn't change his bike. "Hey switch your ride to battle mode." He said. "No point." Was his response. He gunned his bike closer to the truck and jumped off of it onto the truck. His bike fell over and crashed into Robin's. He was able to jump off of it in time and shoot a line to haul himself onto the truck, where he immediately knocked one of the monkeys off. Alchemist aimed and fired at the monkey Robin knocked off and blasted it to scrap.

Once Superboy got onto the top of the truck he took off his helmet and hit two robot monkeys with it, before grabbing one of them and ripping it in half. Several more monkeys jumped on top of him, while Robin kept kicking monkeys off the back of the truck. Alchemist was trying to shoot down as many as he could along with Robin's drone, then several monkeys landed on the drone and knocked it out of the sky. Superboy was making some headway against the robot monkeys, destroying them with single punches and tearing them apart, when one of the ones with no arms suddenly turned its head around and fired lasers directly into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. Then four of the monkeys picked him up and dropped him off the back of the truck, nearly causing Alchemist to hit him.

The young kryptonian didn't stay down long as he almost immediately got up and used his super hearing to pinpoint the monkey's laughter and jumping after the truck. Alchemist pulled his watch from a pocket and activated its alchemy, extending the chain and shifting the watch into a solid spiked ball to swat the monkeys away from the truck. He also continued firing his bikes lasers at the ones he could get a clean shot at.

Robin was able to clear monkeys off the back of the truck and was able to climb on top of it and pulling out a pair of Eskrima sticks and began beating robots off the top of the truck. Superboy finally caught up and landed on the top of the truck, and despite being blinded he still took out several of the robot monkeys. Alchemist was still trying to blast monkeys away from the truck while avoiding hitting his teammates. Several of the robot monkeys climbed down the side of the truck and used their laser eyes to blast out the back tires.

The truck started swerving from side to side as the driver tried to keep control. Robin ran to the front of the truck and yelled at the driver. "Get out!" As the driver opened the door and Robin grabbed him and jumped both of them into the cornfield bordering the highway. Without a driver the truck quickly lost control and began flipping end over end before coming to a stop. The back of the truck exploded out and two of the robot monkeys flew out carrying the case containing the android parts, followed by several more that were flying with them. Alchemist tried shooting down the monkeys carrying the case and managed to shoot one of them, but another monkey took up the slack and two others turned around and began shooting at him to cover the escape. Alchemist was finally able to shoot the both of them down, but by the time he was able to the others were out of his range.

Robin came out of the cornfield carrying the driver and Superboy managed to push the truck off of himself and finally get his eyes to focus properly. Growling in anger he started jumping after the robots without regrouping with his teammates. "Superboy!" Both Robin and Alchemist yelled as he went flying over their heads, but he wouldn't listen. "_Aqualad to Robin. We lost our cargo did you?_" Aqualad asked over the comms. Robin just sighed. "It's gone, and so is Superboy." He reported.

"_Aqualad to Superboy. Radio your location, we'll help you._" They heard over the comms. "_I don't need help. Don't want any_." Came his surly response. "_Superboy?_" Aqualad asked. Alchemist grunted in frustration. "I think he ditched his comm." Robin said. "_Super, now we can't even track him_." Wally said sarcastically. "_He's out of my telepathic range_." Miss Martian reported sadly. "_This professor Ivo, if he is alive, seems to be two steps ahead of us. Maybe we should contact Red Tornado?_" "_Tornado always tells us to handle things ourselves._" Aqualad said. "_And the mission can still succeed if we recover the parts before they're reassembled._" "_Oh that's a great plan. Except for the part about us not knowing where to look_." Kid said angrily.

Robin was looking at one of the robot monkeys lying on the ground. "Not necessarily." He said. He unhooked a cord from his gauntlet computer and plugged it into the back of the monkey. "We'd have heard by now if the decoy trucks had been attacked." He said as he typed on his wrist computer. "So how did these monkeys know exactly which trucks to target?" He asked rhetorically. Suddenly his wrist computer lit up with a holographic map. "Ha, the parts have GPS. The monkeys can track the signal, which means I can track them with the one I captured. Looks like both sets of parts are converging on… Gotham City." He said.

"_That far south?_" Aqualad asked. "_M'gann and I won't get there anytime soon_._ I'm sending Kid on ahead to meet you. Aqualad out._" Robin and Alchemist both nodded. "We need to put on our party suits before we meet up with Ivo and his androids." Alchemist suggested. Robin nodded and they both went into the cornfield to change as quickly as possible. As soon as they came back Robin used his wrist computer to summon his bike. "This is definitely a disaster. Heavy on the dis." Alchemist could only nod in agreement as they both took off in the direction of Gotham.

"This is exactly what I was talking about with Superboy. I have no idea how to help him deal with his rage." Alchemist said in frustration as they drove down the highway. "I don't know either. He needs something to help him, I just wish I knew what." Robin said in response. As they reached Gotham's city limits Kid Flash Joined the two of them. "So you changed too?" Robin noted. Kid shuddered. "You kidding? I feel naked in civvies. You still tracking the parts?" He asked as they sped down the road. "They were heading through Gotham, but they've veered." Robin said as he studied the map. "Dude, they're at my school." He said in a shocked tone.

The three of them quickly made their way to the school, once on site they didn't even need Robin to track the parts anymore because they could hear a loud battle happening. "Kid recon the area and help Superboy. I'm almost certain he's fighting Amazo." Robin said as Kid nodded and took off. Alchemist followed Robin, as the Boy Wonder knew his way around the school very well. They eventually found Superboy and Amazo fighting in the school gym.

Just as they arrived Kid Flash grabbed Superboy and sped him away from where Amazo was about to crush him. The young speedster dragged him over to his teammates and Robin threw and explosive batarang at the android. "Martian Manhunter." Amazo said before he became intangible and the batarang flew through him and exploded against a far wall. "Access Red Tornado." Immediately after saying that Amazo's legs became surrounded by a red whirlwind and flew at the four young heroes and used the wind powers to knock them all across the gym.

"Superboy, can you see a water line?" Alchemist asked the Kryptonian clone. He nodded in response before looking around and jamming his arm into the ground and then puling up a pipe that was gushing water. "Perfect." Alchemist said. Amazo looked over toward Kid Flash and raised his hand. "Access Captain Atom." He said before shooting an energy blast. Kid got on his proverbial horse and ran behind the bleachers trying to get at Amazo from behind. "Access Black Canary." Amazo said and he emitted an ultrasonic scream that tore up the gym floor and knocked kid to the ground. "Superman." Amazo said before several ice spikes hit him and shattered on his torso, then he caught Superboy's punch and then punched him onto the bleachers.

Alchemist used his alchemy to cover Amazo in water and flash-freeze it. "Martian Manhunter." Amazo shifted right through the ice and then extended his arm to block several explosive batarangs that Robin threw. He then swung the arm at Robin who dodged out of the way. Alchemist tried to hit Amazo with ice spikes again, but he became intangible and when he tried to hit him with his alchemy watch, Amazo caught the watch and used his extending limbs to grab Alchemist. "Superman." Amazo said as he began to squeeze the young hero in a bear hug. Alchemist screamed as he felt his left arm break.

"Martian Manhunter." Amazo suddenly became intangible again just as an arrow passed through his head. He dropped Alchemist, who scrambled away as quickly as possible. "Access Black Canary." Amazo grabbed Superboy as he tried to attack from behind and flipped him across the gym and onto the bleachers again. He ducked under another ice spike and looked over at Alchemist. "Superman." His eyes lit up and he shot heat vision at Alchemist, who was saved when Kid Flash grabbed him and got him out of the way.

Superboy managed to extract himself from his section of the bleachers and looked out at the devastation that Amazo had wrought. "Access Black Canary." He said, forming a plan. "Oh yawn. Normally Amazo would study and mimic your abilities during battle, but what's the point? You're all such poor copies of the originals." Ivo said, looking bored. "So I keep hearing." Superboy said with a smirk. "It makes me angry." He yelled as he jumped across the gym and tried to hit Ivo. He quickly moved out of the way. "Wanna see me channel that anger?" He screamed at Ivo.

"Oh great, he's gone ballistic again." Kid Flash said. "Maybe not." Robin corrected with a smile on his face. They both turned at Alchemist pained groan. "You okay dude?" Kid asked. Alchemist's face was gray with pain, but he nodded his head. "Yeah. My arm's broken, but I'll be fine."

Ivo was terrified of what Superboy could and would do to him. "Amazo, protect your master. Priority alpha." He said in a panic as he dodged another attack by Superboy. "Captain Atom." Amazo said as he lifted his hand and blasted the Kryptonian. "Anyone wanna play keep away?" Robin asked as he kicked Ivo across the gym floor. "Ooh me." Kid Flash said as he came running towards Ivo's prone form. "Access Superman." Amazo said and stomped on the ground, creating a shock wave that knocked Kid into the air. "Martian Manhunter." Amazo said. He became intangible again just as both an ice spike and an exploding batarang flew through him. "Superman." He said, and started to become solid again, but not before Superboy shoved his fist into his intangible head. As he tried to make his body tangible around Superboy's fist, Amazo's android body couldn't take the strain, and his head exploded and he fell over.

"Help me disassemble him now." Robin ordered as he rushed over to Amazo. "Dude, the guy has no head." Kid sad. "Don't take any chances." Aqualad said as he and Miss Martian arrived on scene. Miss M flew over to Superboy and helped him to his feet. "Superboy are you alright?" She asked him. "I'm fine, feeling the aster. Take care of Alchemist." He responded. Miss Martian nodded and went over to Alchemist and looked over his arm. "This will hurt." She said soothingly. Alchemist nodded his head and gritted his teeth. She concentrated and quickly set the arm with her telekinetic abilities. Alchemist almost passed out from the pain but managed to hang on. She pulled off her cloak and shifted it into a splint and wrapped up his broken arm.

"Hey where's Ivo?" Kid Flash asked. The Team all looked around but the inventor was nowhere to be seen. It took them a few minutes to finish up with everything before taking off.

{_Location: Mount Justice_}

The Team was giving their report to the League about what happened and Jak had his arm in a proper cast. "The Amazo android is in pieces again. Safely being analyzed at the two separate S.T.A.R. Labs but Ivo escaped, and since he originated the tech. He is arguably more dangerous than the android." Aqualad reported. "Capturing the professor will be a league priority." Black Canary assured them. "But we understand that our mission encountered… other complications." Martian Manhunter said with a pointed look at Superboy. "Complications come with the job." Batman said, stepping forward. "Your ability to handle them has impressed the league." "The whole league?" Superboy asked anxiously. "Given time… yes. Kryptonian as you know have very hard heads." Batman said, drawing a smile from Superboy. "Of course there's no shame in asking for help, that's why the league exists. Because there are some problems that even we can't handle individually."

"Please." Robin said sarcastically. "If we needed help we'd never get the chance to ask. Look familiar?" He asked as he pulled out the arrow that had saved Alchemist's life from Amazo and handing it to Batman. "You were following us. Babysitting. You still don't trust us." He accused. "We didn't follow you." Batman said as he handed the arrow to Green Arrow for examination. Green arrow pulled another one from his own quiver for comparison to the one given by Robin. The two arrows were definitely different. "Then that's not your arrow." Alchemist pointed out.

"Then that means…" Robin began. "Speedy." Kid Flash finished. "He has our backs." Aqualad said happily. Kid Flash snatched the arrow back from Green Arrow. "Souvenir." He said happily. Superboy walked up to Black Canary and coughed lightly to get her attention. "I'm ready." He said seriously. "Good." She responded. "Because I'm here." The meeting broke up rather quickly and most everyone went their separate ways.

Alchemist stayed behind in order to speak with Batman alone. "Did you need something?" Batman asked, noticing that he had been extremely quiet since his return to the Cave. "Yeah. I need you to be honest with me Batman. Do you think that I'm cut out for the Team?" He asked, pulling down his hood. "I know that you and the rest of the league never wanted me to be a part of all this." "True." Batman admitted. "But from everything that we've seen from you in your few missions shows that you have incredible potential. Not many people could take the knowledge that you've been given and use it as responsibly as you have." He said, before turning and staring hard at the young man. "So why don't you tell me what brought on this sudden doubt."

Jak sighed and looked down at his arm. "It was this fight with Amazo. I was basically useless. All I did manage was to get myself hurt. I put the team in danger because I wasn't skilled enough to fight, and I didn't have any alchemy with the power to pose even a minor threat to Amazo." He said feeling disgusted with his own performance on the mission. "I understand what you're feeling, but the way to protect your teammates from you being a liability is _not_ to quit. It's getting better, simple as that. Black Canary will be more than happy to give you individual training to boost your combat skills. Now as far as helping with your alchemy, there's very little I can offer in aid, aside from a few obscure books Zatara was able to find." Batman explained as he pulled two small volumes out of his pack.

Jak took the books and the advice to heart. After all, how often can you say that Batman told you that you had potential? He headed back to his room and started poring over the books Batman had given him. They contained information on alchemy very similar to his own. He spent the rest of the night devouring both volumes and then using the information to work on an entirely new alchemical formula.

He knew that he needed something with more raw power than the alchemy he currently had and looking at the alchemical formulas in the books Batman gave him gave him an idea for a new transmutation circle. He became so engrossed in his work he didn't even hear the knock on his door. It took several more hard knocks before he finally noticed it and realized that it was full daylight outside his window.

He went to his door and found Robin and Kaldur standing outside. "Dude, where have you been?" Robin asked as they both walked into Jak's room. "What do you mean? I've been right here." He said, not understanding what Robin meant. "No one has seen you for the last two days." Aqualad explained. "Not since we were debriefed after our last mission." Jak was shocked. When he saw the light streaming into his room he assumed that he had been up all night, not in his room for two days. "M'gann tried checking on you yesterday, but when you didn't answer she assumed that you went out. When no one saw you again today, we checked the computer for your location. Needless to say we were surprised to see that you were in your room inside the Cave." Aqualad explained.

"And we were knocking on your door for like twenty minutes before you finally answered." Robin put in before sniffing the air. "And you seriously need a shower." Jak looked somewhat embarrassed at his personal state. "Sorry guys, I guess I just got so caught up in my work that I really lost track of time." "What work?" Robin asked. "Batman gave me two books on alchemy that Zatara found. The formulas they have aren't the same as the ones I use, but they're close enough that I was able to come up with a new transmutation circle. It's an earth-based alchemy, but it's also augmented by kinetic energy." He explained excitedly.

"Okay but you do know that I'm only catching about half of what you're talking about right?" Robin said with a smile. Jak smiled back at him. "Yeah sorry, but what I mean is that this alchemy is made stronger by my punches. Which actually means that I have to get stronger, like a lot stronger and fast." Jak explained. Kaldur nodded in understanding. "You do still need to get cleaned up though." "Right." Jak said before he went to do just that.

"Oh while I'm cleaning up, can you guys get me some Chromium, Tungsten, Titanium and Leather? I need to make another gauntlet." "Why do you need another gauntlet?" Robin asked him. "The gauntlet that I have is great for thermal conduction, but this new alchemy isn't about thermal conductivity. It's about strength, so I need metals that are extremely strong and can stand up to the stress and impact that I'm going to be putting them under." Jak explained as he finally went to get cleaned up.

After Jak took his shower he met up with Kaldur and Robin near the armor fabricators so that Jak could make his new alchemy gauntlet. Once again the materials broke down into blue energy before reforming into Jak's new gauntlet. This one looked very different from his other one. It was a dull silver color and went to just below his elbow. Where his other gauntlet was sleek, this one was extremely bulky, with large plates running along the back and knuckle protrusions. It also had a blank circular plate on the back of the hand. Once again Robin helped him work the laser-etching machine to put his new transmutation circle on the gauntlet.

"So what're you gonna call this new alchemy?" Robin asked him as the machine got to work. "Well in order to make this alchemy work properly I have to get stronger, so I think I'll call it strong arm alchemy." He said, and he somehow knew that the name just felt right.

**END CHAPTER THREE**


	5. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR: New Teammates**

{_Location: Mount Justice_}

It was about a week since the Amazo Mission and Jak was glad to finally be rid of his cast. The League had access to some of the most cutting edge medical tech in the world and healing a broken bone in that short a time was easy enough. Jak was currently in the Cave's gym doing bench press sets. Since creating his Strong Arm alchemy, Jak had been working on his physical strength almost nonstop, and the results were beginning to show.

Jak finished his set when the rest of the team, minus Wally, walked into the gym. All of them were dressed in swimwear. "Hey Jak." Robin said. "We were going to try out the beach. I mean it's a perk of having one behind the Cave right?" Jak smiled at the idea of cooling off in the ocean after his workout. "Yeah sounds good. Let me get changed." He said as he got changed into a pair of swim trunks and flip-flops.

They all went out back into the sunshine with big smiles. "Hello Megan. We should hit the beach every day." M'gann said in excitement. "First, a moment of silence for our absent comrade." He said in mock seriousness. Jak laughed, knowing that Wally was currently stuck at school in Central City. "Poor Wally." M'gann said sadly. "Well we can't let his bad situation ruin our fun." Jak said with a big grin.

The group spent the next several hours enjoying their day, doing all of the things usually done at the beach. They swam, they grilled hot dogs and played volleyball, they even buried Superboy in the sand. Finally after a few hours Red Tornado called them and told them to get dressed in their mission gear. They all did as instructed before going to the central room of the Cave.

Arriving at the central room they all saw Red Tornado, Batman and Green Arrow waiting for them. And standing next to Green Arrow was a young blonde girl in a sleeveless, midriff baring forest green outfit with a mask with large eyeholes going from her hairline to her cheekbones. Her outfit also had a stylized arrowhead on the front in a lighter shade of green. She also carried a green compound bow and quiver on her back.

"Where is Kid Flash?" Batman asked, noticing the young speedster missing. "He should be here shortly Batman. It was his first day of school back in Central City." Aqualad explained. "_Recognized: Kid Flash B-03_." The computer said as the Cave's Zeta Tube lit up. Wally appeared wearing swim trunks and carrying all sorts of beach accessories. "The Wall man is here. Now let's get this party star…" He said as he ran into the room, but he tripped over the stand umbrella he was carrying and face planted right in front of the league members and sent a beach ball bouncing past Batman' head. "Ted." He finished lamely.

Aqualad moved to the side to reveal they young woman standing in their midst. "Wall man huh?" She said with a grin. "Love the uniform. What exactly are your powers?" Wally looked at her in confusion. "Uh, who is this?" He asked as he stood back up. "Artemis. Your new teammate." She explained. "Kid Flash, never heard of you." "Um, she's my new protégé." Green Arrow said as he walked up and put a hand on her shoulder. "Well, what happened to your old one?" Wally asked.

"_Recognized: Speedy B-07_." The computer said as Green Arrow's old apprentice appeared. "Well for starters, he doesn't go by Speedy anymore. Call me Red Arrow." He said. "Roy, you look…" Green Arrow began as he stepped forward. "Replaceable." Red Arrow said testily. "It's not like that. You told me you were going solo." Green Arrow said defensively. "So why waste time finding a sub? Can she even use that bow?" He asked his old mentor.

"Yes she can." Artemis said, stepping up to Red Arrow. "Who are you?" Wally asked in an outraged tone. "I'm his niece." "She's my niece." Both Artemis and Green Arrow said at the same time. Robin chuckled. "Another niece?" He asked. "But she is not your replacement." Aqualad assured him. "We have always wanted you on the Team, and we have no quotas on archers." "And if we did, you know who we'd pick." Wally assured him. "Whatever Baywatch, I'm here to stay." Artemis said to Wally.

Aqualad stopped Red Arrow as he was trying to leave. "You came to us for a reason." "Yeah. A reason named Doctor Serling Roquette." Red Arrow said. Robin tapped a few keys on his wrist computer. "Nano-robotics genius and claytronics expert at Royal University in Star City. Vanished two weeks ago." He said, pulling up her file on multiple holographic screens. "Abducted two weeks ago." Red Arrow corrected. "By the League of Shadows." "Whoa. You want us to rescue her from the Shadows?" Robin asked, excited by the prospect. "Hardcore." Wally said as the two of them fist bumped.

"I already rescued her." Red Arrow said as he pulled a small projector out of his pocket. "Only one problem. The Shadows had already coerced her into creating a weapon. Doc calls it the Fog, comprised of millions of microscopic robots, nanotech infiltrators capable of disintegrating anything in their path. Concrete, steel, flesh, bone… anything. But its true purpose isn't mere destruction, it's theft. The infiltrator's eat and store raw data from any computer system, and deliver the stolen Intel to the Shadows." He explained as the projector showed them the schematics of the Fog robots. "Providing them access to weapons, strategic defense, cutting edge science and tech."

"Perfect for extortion, manipulation, power broking… yeah sounds like the Shadows." Artemis said. "Like you know anything about the Shadows." Wally said incredulously. When all he got in response was a mysterious smile he burst out again. "Who are you?"

"Roquette's working on a virus to render the Fog inert." Red Arrow said before the two of them could fight any more. "But if the Shadow's know she can do that…" Robin began. "They'll target her." Red Arrow finished. "Right now she's off the grid. I stashed her at the local high school's computer lab" "You left her alone?" Green Arrow asked. "She's safe enough for now." Red Arrow said defensively.

"Then let's you and I keep her that way." Green Arrow suggested. "You and I?" Red Arrow asked. "Don't you want to take your new protégé?" Green Arrow looked like he was about to say more when Batman put a hand on his shoulder. "You brought this to the Team. It's their mission, which means its hers now too." He said with finality. Red Arrow just scoffed. "Then my job's done." He said as he walked toward the Zeta Tubes. "_Recognized: Speedy_…" The computer began. "That's Red Arrow: B-07 update." He said as the Zeta Tube activated.

"Alright, you have your mission." Batman said. "Kid Flash, get changed and meet the rest of the Team at the Bioship in ten minutes." He instructed. "Yes sir." Kid said as he quickly took off. The rest of the Team made their way to the Bioship. Kid Flash made it to them in less time than he was allotted and they quickly took off.

{_Location: Happy Harbor High school_}

The Team was posted in and around the school on the lookout for the Shadows. '_Miss Martian link us up_. _We do not want the Shadows intercepting our comms_.' Aqualad sent telepathically. Moments later Miss Martian was in their heads. '_Everyone online?_' She asked. '_Whoa, this is weird_.' Artemis said. '_And distracting_.' Dr. Roquette said, also in the mental link. '_Coding a distributive algorithm virus on a kiddy computer with less ram than a wristwatch is hard enough. Now I have to hear teen think in my skull?'_ She asked angrily. '_Lady do you always complain when someone tries to help you?_' Kid Flash asked. '_Pot, kettle. Have you met?_' Artemis asked dismissively. '_Hey I do not need attitude from the newbie who drove Red Arrow off the team._' Kid said angrily. '_That is so not on me._' Artemis argued back. '_Hey, both of you can it._' Alchemist interrupted angrily from his place on patrol._ 'We're on a mission, so why don't you two stow this crap until Dr. Roquette finishes shutting down the Fog_.' '_She started it._' Kid said petulantly. '_How about I just help Miss Martian, Superboy, and Alchemist patrol the perimeter?_' Artemis said as she walked outside. '_Good Idea.'_ Aqualad said.

'_You might cut her some slack. It was her arrow that saved Alchemist against Amazo._' Robin pointed out. '_What? No, that was Speedy's, I mean Red Arrow's arrow. Right?_' Kid Flash argued back. '_Not so much._' Robin corrected him. '_Well, still not giving her the satisfaction._' Kid said petulantly. '_You know I can still hear you?_' Artemis asked, causing Kid Flash to groan in frustration.

'_I couldn't get the Justice League?_' Dr. Roquette asked rhetorically. '_The virus won't be of much use if we cannot find the weapon. Can you track it?_' Aqualad asked the Doctor. '_My Utility Fog is not a weapon. It's science, brilliant science. And of course I can track it, bit I'd have to go online. Might as well rent a billboard with this address and "assassinate me" written in neon_.' She said. Aqualad could see that she was worried and put his hand on her shoulder reassuringly. '_We will protect you_.' He assured her. She nodded and got online to track The Fog.

Alchemist was walking rounds and passed by Artemis and Miss Martian, just as Superboy landed in the same area and walked the opposite direction. '_Mm those boys_.' Artemis thought admiringly as she looked at both of them. That got both of the male heroes attention. '_They can hear you. We can all hear you._' Miss Martian said to Artemis. '_Oh I know.'_ She said back with no hint of shame.

'_Miss Martian, Dr. Roquette has tracked the Fog._' Aqualad said to her. '_Reconfigure the Bioship so that Robin and Superboy can pursue._' Miss Martian quickly did as she was told and the Martian vessel dropped from the sky and opened the back hatch. '_Ready._' She confirmed.

Robin and Superboy quickly boarded the ship and took off, and everyone else went back to their guard duties. '_You embarrassed Superboy.'_ Miss Martian said. '_And Alchemist too._' She added almost as an afterthought. '_Didn't hear them say that._' She replied. '_Must you challenge everyone?_' Miss M asked angrily. '_Where I come from, that's how you survive_.' She replied. '_M'gann, Kid, Alchemist, Artemis, we are under attack in the computer lab._' Aqualad suddenly reported. '_We're on our way.'_ Artemis said as they all ran through the building.

Suddenly Miss Martian stopped with a scared look on her face. '_Kid is in trouble_. _Alchemist can you help him?_' '_On it._' Alchemist said as he ran into the pool area. He found Kid floating face down in the pool and used his liquid alchemy to lift him out of the pool. He then pushed down on his chest a few times to push the water out of him. Kid quickly woke up spluttering. "We gotta go. Aqualad's under attack." Alchemist explained. Kid got up and took off at super speed with Alchemist keeping up as best as he could.

The both of them came into the computer lab to see Aqualad, Miss Martian and Artemis having a stand off with a woman. She was of medium height with shaggy black hair, wearing a short dark green kimono and a white grinning cat mask. "This is a little too interesting." She said as Kid Flash tried to charge her. She tossed down a flash-bang/smoke grenade to cover her as Kid flew right through the smoke and nearly ran face first into Artemis.

Looking around, the room was deserted except for the Team and Dr. Roquette. "She's getting away. You're letting her get away." Dr. Roquette accused. "This is all your fault, you were on perimeter. How'd that Shadow get in here?" Kid Flash accused. "That's not really fair. Alchemist and I were outside too." Miss Martian said. "Outside… being distracted by her." Kid said lamely before he walked away in frustration.

Miss Martian put her hand on Artemis' shoulder. "I didn't do half as well during my first battle, and I know you can't have been Green Arrow's sidekick for long." She said kindly. "Focus everyone. The Shadows will be back." Aqualad said seriously. "_Robin to Aqualad._" Came his voice over the comms. "_We're over Philadelphia. We've located the Shadow's next target, S.T.A.R. Labs. We're too late; it's destroyed totally destroyed. The Fog decimated it. This is bad, S.T.A.R. Labs is cutting edge science and now their secrets are in the hands of the enemy. What's our next move?" _He asked their leader.

"Re-scan for that Fog, find it. We're moving the Doctor." Aqualad said finally. It took them a few minutes to gather everything and move to Doctor to a pier side store with Wi-Fi. Kid Flash and Artemis were inside the store guarding the Doctor, while Aqualad, Miss Martian and Alchemist patrolled the perimeter. '_Stop it both of you._' Aqualad said via the mental link. '_What?_' Both Kid Flash and Artemis asked. '_I can hear you glaring._' He clarified.

"Miss Martian, stay in camouflage mode and make a wide perimeter sweep. Alchemist, stay of the far side and cover that area." He said over the comms. A few minutes later one of the Shadows made his move and busted into the computer room where Dr. Roquette was working. He was wearing a dark purple body suit with orange eyepieces and a black spider emblem on his forehead. He jumped and was able to stick to the ceiling and he shot a glob of webbing at Kid Flash. Kid dodged and threw a trashcan at Spider, who dropped off the ceiling and threw a punch. Kid blocked the punch and threw one back at Spider while Artemis took aim with her bow.

Just as she was about to fire another Shadow crashed through the skylight above her. He was tall and powerfully built with white hair and a metal arm that ended in a large hook. He was also wearing a green jacket, chest wraps and jeans. Artemis turned and immediately fired two arrows at Hook, who took cover behind a bench. "Don't stop working." She ordered Dr. Roquette. Suddenly a crossbow bolt came flying at the Doctor from a window above, but a trashcan floating in midair blocked it.

"The Martian's here, it's now or never." The woman in the Cheshire cat mask yelled. Spider dropped down and kicked Kid over him before using his webbing to pull the trashcan blocking Cheshire's line of sight. The female Shadow dropped onto the table in front of Dr. Roquette, causing her to run, and before Artemis could help the hook arm came flying at her attached to a chain and hit her in the face.

Cheshire jump tackled Dr. Roquette, twirled her sai and prepared to stab her when her head suddenly turned around and she turned green. "We've been duped." Cheshire yelled. Just the Alchemist burst in the room and used his new strong-arm alchemy to punch the ground, creating a line of spikes out of the concrete of the floor that hit Hook and knocked him to the ground.

Miss Martian morphed back into her own form and began floating above the ground. "You'll never find Dr. Roquette." She assured them. "Never is such a long time." Cheshire said mockingly. "Pursuing target. Keep em busy." She instructed before taking off. Alchemist tried to stop her with another row of strong-arm alchemy spikes, but Cheshire jumped over them with impeccable acrobatic skill and continued out of the store. Artemis quickly took off after her. "Pursuing their leader, take the rest down." She told them. "You are so not the boss of me." Kid said petulantly. "Just do it." She said in exasperation as she continued to run after Cheshire.

Spider grabbed Kid Flash from behind and slammed him to the ground. Before he could capitalize on his advantage he was forced to dodge several ice spikes that Alchemist hurled at him. Alchemist was then forced to dodge an attack from Hook's arm. Before he could keep attacking Miss Martian picked up several benches and hurled them at Hook, who broke them with hits from his metal arm. Hook then shot the hook-chain at Miss M, who moved out of the way before it could hit her. '_Kid Flash, Alchemist we need to end this now._' She said via her telepathic link. '_It's like you read my mind beautiful_.' Kid replied as he was dodging blasts of webbing from Spider. He was finally hit with a large glob of web, but he immediately started spinning at super speed, causing Spider to get pulled towards him. Hid then quickly jumped and did a double kick to Spider's chest, sending him flying across the room and into a bench. Spider was quickly covered by a flow of water that flash-froze. Hook tried again to throw his hook chain at Miss Martian, but she used a telekinesis blast to push the hook back at him and hit him in the face. He quickly retracted it and spun around to try and slash at Alchemist, but he was ready and met his hit with his own strong-arm alchemy powered punch that shattered the hook, as well as about a foot of his metal arm. The punch created a shockwave that blasted Hook across the store and knocked him unconscious.

Miss Martian cheered at the victory over their enemies while Alchemist looked pleased with his performance. Seeing Kid still tied up with sticky webbing Alchemist walked over to him and used his liquid alchemy to freeze the webs until they became brittle enough for Kid to break. "Dude, that new alchemy of yours really packs a punch. Get it? Packs a punch?" Kid Flash said, laughing at his terrible pun.

It took them a few minutes to wake up their captives while Alchemist tied them up with his watch chain before they were able to head towards the nearby Internet café that Aqualad had stashed Dr. Roquette at. As they walked up they saw Aqualad leaning on Dr. Roquette for support. "Artemis, where is the assassin?" He asked their newest teammate. "She uh… she got away." Artemis explained shamefacedly. "Whoa from you? Big surprise." Kid said arrogantly. "Notice we got ours." He said as Miss Martian floated the other two Shadows over. Alchemist walked up and gave Kid a punch in the arm. "Dude, what was that for?" He asked. "For being a jackass. Can't you see she's upset about the assassin escaping?" Alchemist asked. Kid Flash just grunted before looking down. "Cool, souvenir." He said, picking up Cheshire's mask lying on the ground. "Her mask?" Aqualad asked as he pulled poisoned stingers out of his chest. "Did you see her face?" He asked Artemis. "It was dark." She said as explanation. "It is fine. Robin and Superboy neutralized the Fog and Dr. Roquette is safe. Thanks in no small part to you." He said soothingly. "Welcome to the Team." He said, getting a small smile out of Artemis.

"I've always wanted a sister." Miss Martian said. "Here on Earth I mean. I have twelve back on Mars, but trust me it's not the same." "I uh wouldn't know, but thanks." Artemis said with a smile. "As far as I'm concerned you were welcome from the beginning." Alchemist said holding out his hand, which Artemis shook. Kid Flash just looked impassive until Miss M gave him an elbow to the stomach. "Ow. Yeah welcome." He said without much enthusiasm, but he did shake Artemis' offered hand.

After Robin and Superboy returned from Philadelphia and the Justice League took charge of the Team's prisoners, they all headed back to the Cave to unwind. Jak decided to not hit his alchemy books this night, but instead simply enjoy watching TV with his two roommates as everyone else went back to their own homes across the country.

{_Location: Mount Justice_}

A few weeks after protecting Dr. Roquette had the Team, minus Robin, at sparring practice. Superboy and Kaldur were currently facing off while the rest of the team watched. M'gann and Artemis were standing together, watching the two of them spar with interest. "Kaldur's uh nice, don't you think?" Artemis asked the young Martian. "Handsome, commanding, you should totally ask him out." She suggested. "He's like a big brother to me. But you know who would make the cutest couple? You and Wally." M'gann said in response. "You're so full of passion and he's so full of uh…" She began, not knowing how to finish. "It?" Artemis asked, before they both started laughing.

The sparring match finally came to a close with Superboy doing a hip throw to Kaldur that planted him on the ground. "Black Canary taught me that." Superboy said as he dusted his hands off. Suddenly a circular opening appeared above the training area and Red Tornado dropped out of his personal area in the Cave. Wally immediately sped over to their android supervisor. "Do you have a mission for us?" He asked excitedly. "Mission assignments are the Batman's responsibility." He said. Wally just shrugged. "Yeah, well the Batman's with the Robin doing the Dynamic Duo thing in Gotham. But you're headed somewhere right? Hot date? Or a mission?" He asked. "If we can be of help." Aqualad put in respectfully.

Red Tornado considered for a moment before activating the holo screens. "This is Kent Nelson, a friend. He is one hundred and six years old." He said, showing an image of an older gentleman. "Guy doesn't look a day over ninety." Wally whispered to Artemis. "And he has been missing for twenty one days. Kent was a charter member of the Justice Society. The precursor to your mentor's Justice League." Red Tornado explained, as the image changed to a man wearing a blue outfit with gold gloves, a gold cloak and a golden helmet.

"Of course. Nelson was Earth's Sorcerer Supreme. He was Dr. Fate." Aqualad said, instantly recognizing the new photo. "More like Dr. Fake." Wally said dismissively. "Guy knows a little advanced science and Dumbledore's it up to scare the bad guys and impress the babes." "Kent may simply be on one of his walkabouts but he is caretaker to the Helmet of Fate, the source of the Doctor's mystic might. And it is unwise to leave such power unguarded." Tornado explained.

"He is like the great sorcerer priests and priestesses of Mars. It would be an honor to help find him." M'gann said. Wally's hand shot up immediately. "Me too. So honored I can barely stand it. Magic… rocks." He said, somewhat unconvincingly. Red Tornado held up a key for them. "Take this. It is the key to the Tower of Fate." He said as he handed the key to Kaldur. "What are the chances that we'd both so admire the mystic arts?" Wally asked M'gann.

The Team took off in street clothes, although Jak was carrying his alchemy gauntlets with him in his backpack just in case. Artemis decided to call Wally on his BS. "So Wally, when did you first realize your honest affinity for sorcery?" "Well uh I don't like to brag but uh… before I became Kid Flash, I seriously considered becoming a wizard myself." Wally said, trying to impress M'gann. Jak just shook his head in exasperation at the speedsters continued antics.

{_Location: Salem Massachusetts_}

"We've reached Tornado's coordinates but…" M'gann began. "There's nothing there." Superboy finished. "Take us down." Kaldur ordered. Once they landed they all began searching the area for the Tower, but came up empty. "Nothing." Wally said as he came to a stop in front of the Team. "This isn't simple camouflage." He said. "So what do you think? Adaptive micro opto-electronics combined with phase shifting?" Artemis asked. "Absolutely…" He began before glancing at M'gann. "Not. Clearly mystic powers are at work here." He finished lamely. Artemis gave him a glare.

Kaldur pulled out the key that Red Tornado gave him. "A test of faith." He said as he walked forward. "Stand behind me." He walked forward and inserted the key into what looked like thin air, except that the front half of the key disappeared and then he turned the key and a sound like a large lock opening echoed through the air. Then a large stone tower appeared in front of them much to everyone's surprise. Kaldur then opened the door and all of them went inside.

"Uh… where'd the door go?" Superboy asked, and looking around there was indeed no door to be found. Suddenly a yellow tinted hologram of Nelson appeared in front of them. "Greetings." He said. "You have entered with a key but the Tower does not recognize you. Please state your purpose and intent." Wally glanced at M'gann with a grin before walking forward. "We are true believers. Here to find Dr. Fate." He said grandly.

The hologram looked at him before vanishing. Then the floor abruptly fell out from underneath all of them and they were falling down a shaft towards a pool of lava. Everyone reacted quickly. M'gann grabbed Wally and began floating. Artemis pulled a collapsible hand crossbow out of her jacket, fired a bolt with a line attached to it into the side of the shaft and grabbed Kaldur. Jak pulled out his alchemy watch, transmuted it into a sharp jagged blade and sunk it into the side of the shaft. Superboy used his strength to dig his fingertips into the stone of the shaft and slow himself down as he fell, however he was not able to completely stop his descent as his feet dipped into the molten hot lava, causing him to scream in pain. He was able to quickly pull his feet back up but his boots, socks and a few inches of his pants had all been burned away. "Those… were my favorite boots." He said angrily. "This Nelson guy better be worth it."

M'gann was trying to levitate herself and Wally but was slowly falling. "Having trouble maintaining altitude. I'm so hot." She said as she was sweating profusely. "You certainly are." Wally gushed at her. "Wally!" Artemis yelled, unable to believe he was still trying to flirt with M'gann. "Hey, inches above sizzling death I'm entitled to speak my mind." He shot back. "My physiology, and M'gann's are susceptible to extreme heat. We must climb out quickly." Kaldur insisted.

"Wait, we never answered the question." Jak said. "Red Tornado sent us to see if Kent Nelson and the Helmet were safe." As soon as he said that two sliding floors covered the lava pit. They all dropped down to the new floor and Kaldur touched the floor. "This platform, it should be red hot but it is cool to the touch." Kaldur said. Wally was helping M'gann to her feet. "Don't worry Megalicious, I got you." Artemis stalked up to him and shoved him hard in the chest. "Enough!" She yelled at Wally. "Your little impress M'gann at any cost game nearly got us all barbecued." "When did this become _my_ fault?" He asked indignantly. "When you lied to that… whatever it was and called yourself a true believer." She pointed out.

"Wally, you don't believe?" M'gann asked him. Wally raised his hands in defeat. "Fine, fine. I lied about believing in magic, but magic is the real lie. A major load." He said, crossing his arms angrily. "Wally I studied for a year at the Conservatory of Sorcery in Atlantis. The mystic arts created the skin icons that power my Water Bearers." Kaldur said. "Dude, you ever hear of bio-electricity? Hey in primitive cultures fire was once considered magical too. Today it's all just a bunch of tricks." He said. Jak could only shake his head at Wally's stubbornness. "You're pretty closed minded for a guy that can break the sound barrier in his sneakers." Artemis said skeptically. "That's science. I recreated Flash's lab experiment and here I am. Everything can be explained by science."

"Let us test that theory." Kaldur said as he grabbed a ring attached to the floor and pulled up a section of floor. "Wait, the back draft from the lava will roast us alive." Wally warned but as soon as he opened the door and cold air and snow started blowing up from the opening. "It's snow." M'gann said excitedly. "Do you ever get tired of being wrong?" Artemis asked him smartly. They all jumped down into the trapdoor and came out in what looked like a snowy mountain expanse. The opening closed once they were all through.

"Well?" Artemis asked him. "Ever heard of string theory? We're in a pocket dimension." Wally said smartly. Artemis just growled in frustration. "What's that?" M'gann asked, pointing at a floating cane. "It looks like the one Nelson was holding in the picture Red Tornado showed us, and in the Hologram." Jak pointed out. "Maybe its Nelson's magic wand." Wally said dismissively. Artemis walked up to grab it and Wally sped up to it and both of them grabbed it at the same time. "I got it." They both said at the same time. The cane immediately lit up with power. "Uh, I can't let go." They both said at the same time again. The cane lifted them both into the air, and also shot a beam of yellow energy at the ground under Jak's feet, opening up a hole that he fell into immediately.

Jak fell through the hole for what seemed like a long time before dropping down onto a carpeted floor with a grunt. Looking around he was more than a little shocked to find himself in what looked like a bedroom/meditation chamber. "Who are you?" Came a soft female voice from behind him. Turning around Jak saw a very attractive young girl, maybe a year younger than him standing there. She had pale skin and shoulder length, dark violet hair and a small red gem in the middle of her forehead. She had on a tattered dark indigo cloak fastened around her neck by a chain. Underneath the cloak Jak could see she was wearing a purple bodysuit with black, heeled boots and fingerless purple gloves that went up to her elbows.

Jak was too stunned to speak for a few moments. "Hey, I said who are you? And how did you get into the Tower of Fate?" She asked as her hands became encased in black energy. "Um, sorry." Jak said, holding his hands up. "Name's Jak, Jak Raith. My friends and I came to the Tower looking for Kent Nelson. Red Tornado sent us to look for him." He explained. The girl's eyes narrowed with suspicion. "Why would the super hero Red Tornado send a bunch of kids looking for Kent?" She asked. "We're heroes too. We work for the Justice League and Red Tornado is our supervisor. By the way, who are you and where am I?" Jak asked.

"My name is Rachel Roth. You're in my room inside the Tower of Fate. Kent was helping me to control my magical powers, as well as myself, but I haven't seen him in almost a month." Rachel explained. "That lines up with what Red Tornado told us. He said Nelson has been missing for three weeks. Look Rachel, I need your help. My friends Wally and Artemis got separated from the rest of our group by Nelson's cane before it shot a light at my feet and I ended up in here. Is there any way you can help me find them?" Jak asked as he pulled his alchemy gauntlets out of his backpack and put them on. "What are those?" Rachel asked, looking at the transmutation circles on his gauntlets with interest. "I use these to fight. The circles on my gauntlets allow me to perform alchemical transmutations." He explained. "This one." He said, pointing to his right gauntlet. "Allows me to manipulate water however I want, everything from freezing it to turning it to steam and anything in between. My other one allows me to perform earth based alchemy, and it's enhanced by the kinetic energy of my punches." He said, explaining how his alchemy works.

Rachel nodded in understanding. "I see, these circles look almost like some of the magic circles I've seen Kent use, but they seem to be based off of a scientific formula instead of a mystical one. And to answer your question, yes I can help you find your friends." She said as she walked over to a tall mirror standing next to the wall. Rachel began muttering incantations under her breath as that same black energy engulfed her hands again. Finally she slashed her hand down in front of the mirror, dividing its surface area in two and showing two different images.

One showed Kaldur, M'gann, Artemis and Superboy fighting against a man in a flowing white shirt and black pants, wielding what looked like a magic wand. The team was not doing well, as both Kaldur and Superboy were trapped in some kind of electrical bubble and Artemis was trying unsuccessfully to shoot arrows at the man. The other showed Wally standing next to the unmoving form of Kent Nelson with the Helmet of Fate hanging in the air in front of him. A dome of golden energy that was being attacked by red energy blasts also surrounded Wally and Kent.

"That's Abra Kadabra." Jak said pointing at the image of most of the Team. "He uses futuristic tech to make it look like he uses magic." As they watched both Artemis and M'gann were hit by Abra Kadabra's wand and put into the same electrifying cage as Superboy and Kaldur. "Oh no, Kent." Rachel said, pointing at the other image. In that image Kent was lying on the ground in front of Wally as he reached up and put on the Helmet. "Oh man. I don't know who to help." Jak said, looking at both images. "Help your friends fighting Abra Kadabra. Your friend that put on the Helmet doesn't need anyone's help now." Rachel assured him. Jak nodded, trusting her judgment. "Can you take me to them?" He asked. Rachel nodded. "Will you help me save my friends?" He asked her. "Yes I will."

She used her powers to create the shadow of a large raven that swooped over them and took them through the Tower and deposited the both of them near where Abra had Jak's friends held hostage. He saw the two newcomers and used his wand to shoot electricity at them. Jak punched the ground using his strong-arm alchemy and created a shield of stone that blocked the electric attack. "Rachel, try and free my friends. I'll take on Abra." He ordered. Rachel nodded and melted down into her own shadow.

Jak used pulled out his alchemy watch and transmuted it into a spiked chain mace before jumping toward Abra Kadabra. Abra dodged to the side, but Jak swung his chain mace and hit Abra in the stomach with it, knocking him off balance. He then swung around and punched the ground again with his strong-arm alchemy and shot a row of spikes at Abra. The fake magician dodged out of the way of the spikes and shot another bolt of lightning at Jak, but he was able to roll to the other side of the spikes and avoid the blast.

Rachel used the distraction Jak was providing to try and free his friends. She started with the dark skinned boy that she could sense had a magical talent. She used her shadow magic to create a dome around him to stop the electricity from hitting him and then sunk him into the ground and then out of the electric cage. Once he was out he gasped in relief. "Thank you." He said in a shaky voice. "Help the rest of the Team. I will help Jak." Rachel nodded her head and went to the next person, the green girl with the red hair, but it she was much harder to free because she had no magical ability.

While Rachel went to work on M'gann, Kaldur went to help Jak. He used his Water Bearers to create a pair of water whips and tried to snare Abra Kadabra's wand with them. Abra moved his wand and fired another bolt of lightning at the Atlantean, but Kaldur switched one of his whips into a shield to deflect the bolt. Jak jumped out of from behind the line of spikes and used his liquid alchemy to manipulate the water that Kaldur released into a set of four ice chains. Two of them latched on to Abra's feet, and the other two went for his hands. Abra used his wand to create a shock wave that shattered all of the ice chains before blasting Jak with another shockwave.

The young alchemist was sent flying by the attack, but he was caught by a shadow raven and set down safely. Jak looked over at where Abra and Kaldur were fighting. He punched the ground again with his strong-arm alchemy and sent another row of spikes at Abra, who quickly rolled out of the way. "Kaldur, maneuver seven." Jak yelled as he ran at his friend. Kaldur cupped his hands and when Jak stepped on them, the Atlantean launched him up in the air and at Abra. As Jak came fell toward Abra powered up his strong-arm alchemy gauntlet and threw a strong punch at the faux magician. Abra tried to fire a lightning blast at Jak, but Jak's alchemy powered punch blasted right through the lighting and snapped Abra's wand, causing an explosion that blasted the two of them apart.

Once the wand was destroyed all of the lightning cages stopped, since it was the wand that was powering them. Superboy got up and gave Abra a sour look. "Shows over." He said before he lightly, for Superboy, punched Abra in the face and knocked him out. Jak was happy that his friends were safe, but then realized they were missing someone. "Wally!" He said, remembering the speedster was fighting someone else on the roof of the Tower. "Rachel, can you take us to the top of the Tower, we need to help Wally." She nodded and summoned another raven shadow and took them all to the roof.

As they all stepped out of the shadow they saw Wally take off the Helmet of Fate. "Wally." Jak said as they all headed over to him. The usually jovial speedster had a somber look on his face as he walked over to the body of Kent Nelson and placed a pocket watch into his hand. Rachel saw Nelson's body lying on the stone roof and went to him. "Kent, you helped me when no one else could, or even wanted to. You were like the father I never had and I'll never forget you." She said solemnly as tears began streaming down her face. Jak put a comforting hand on her shoulder as she grieved for the old man.

Once Rachel composed herself she used her magic to teleport Kent's body away. "Where did you take him?" Jak asked her. "He's with his wife. He told me that if I was still with him when he died that it's where he wanted to be." She explained. "What are you going to do now?" He asked her gently. Looking up at Jak, he noticed that she still had tears in her eyes. "I don't know. I've been in the Tower since I was little and I don't know anywhere else, but I… I don't think I can stay here anymore." She said, her voice breaking. "You could come with us." Jak offered gently, surprising Rachel with the offer. "We could really use you. I mean, you already helped us and hell you saved Kaldur from Abra Kadabra. I will put in a good word for you with Batman, and I'm sure the rest of the Team will too."

Rachel looked uncertain. "I don't know if I can. I was in the Tower to learn to control myself. I'm not sure if I can do that somewhere else." She said. "Look Rachel, I don't know anything about magic but I do know that the power that sent me to you came from Nelson's cane. Maybe he thought I could help you?" Jak suggested. Rachel looked thoughtful before nodding. "At least I'll have good company." She said with a smile.

{_Location: Mount Justice_}

The Team, plus Rachel, flew back to Mount Justice. Wally decided to take the Helmet of Fate with him as his newest souvenir. As they landed Jak connected to the Cave's computer. "One guest, Rachel Roth. Authorization Alchemist B-05." He said to the Computer. "_Acknowledged: Authorization Alchemist B-05 accepted_." Came the response from the computer. Once they all disembarked Jak took Rachel's hand as they all went to the central chamber where Batman and Robin were waiting. Batman betrayed no emotion at seeing Rachel. "Red Tornado informed me that he sent you to check on Kent Nelson and the Helmet of Fate." Looking at Wally holding the Helmet in his hands. "Seeing as you have the Helmet in your possession, that means something has happened to Kent." He said and it was definitely a statement.

Wally looked down at the Helmet. "Yeah, he… he went down fighting Klarion the Witch Boy, and now he's keeping Nabu company inside the Helmet." Wally said sadly, as he walked to the room where he had all of his souvenirs on display. The rest of the Team followed him, leaving Jak and Rachel standing in front of Batman. Jak noticed Robin start questioning the rest of the Team about what had happened.

"Batman, this is Rachel. She was living in the Tower of Fate with Kent Nelson and he was helping her control her magic. Now that he's gone she doesn't want to stay in the Tower by herself anymore." Jak explained. "I understand wanting to help, but that doesn't explain why you brought her here." Batman said. "I think she would be an asset to the Team. She has powerful magic at her command, and she already helped me save everyone from Abra Kadabra." Batman stared down at the young girl standing in front of him without saying anything, making her somewhat uncomfortable but she refused to drop her gaze from the Dark Knight. "Look Batman, if you need me to I will take full responsibility for her." The young alchemist assured him. "That won't be necessary. If Kent Nelson was training her, I know she can be trusted." Batman assured them. "He was a good man."

What Batman said happily surprised Rachel. She would get to stay. "Thanks Batman." Jak said happily. "Let's find you a room, Raven." Jak said as he walked through the halls of Mount Justice toward the living quarters. Rachel cocked her eyebrow at the name. "Raven?" She asked. "I saw your shadow constructs all looked like ravens, and I thought it suited you." He explained. Rachel thought about it and smiled, deciding that the name did indeed suit her.

**END CHAPTER FOUR**


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